UmTCD STATES OF A^^ 




.E&JNTEU mLUCAS CRANACH 



':<IS^Byj^ SARTAISl. 



?:M[niYDh 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS; 



CONTAINING A STATEMENT OF THE 



ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT, DOCTRINES, FORIS OF WORSHIP 
AND GOVERNMENT 



IN THE WORLD. 

WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF EMINENT DIVINES. 



SAMUEL M. SCHMUCKER, LL.D. 

REVISED AND ENLARGED 

BY OHARI.ES DREW. 




/ 

PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY QUAKER CITY PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

Nos. 217 AND 219 QUINCE STREET. 

E. H. PARMELEE & CO., CINCINNATI, O. 

1870. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

DUANE RULISON, 

la the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Uuited States, in and foi 
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

Entered according to Act of Congress, ifi the year 1870, by 

DUA^^E RULIS02^, 
In the oflOlce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



LC control Number 




tmp96 027063 



PREFACE. 



The design of the following work is essentially different 
from that of other publications on the same subject, which 
already exist. The larger and more extensive of these are 
composed of articles on the Religious Sects in the United 
States, which were written by members of the several de- 
nominations described, and are often expanded into im- 
mense length by reiterated and familiar arguments in- 
tended to demonstrate the truthfulness and Scriptural 
authority of the Sects to which the respective writers be- 
longed. This method of treatment is much better suited 
to works on Polemic Theology, than to those which pro- 
fess merely to contain a statement of opinions and a narra- 
tive of events. On the other hand, the smaller works 
which have appeared on this subject are superficial and in- 
complete ; being generally made up of very short articles, 
of clippings from Encyclopedias and Biographical Diction- 
aries ; and are utterly unfit to convey even to the general 
reader a satisfactory idea of the various subjects which come 
under consideration. 

(3) 



PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION, 



In offering this revised edition to the public, the 
Publishers have deemed it best to allow the numerical 
strength of the different sects and denominations to re- 
main unaltered — the statements being based upon the 
Census of 1860. It is futile to attempt to keep pace 
with the changing numbers. Any figures which 
might be given to-daj would be incorrect to-morrow, 
and so on from time to time. The statistics can easily 
be ascertained from the periodical publications of the 
different societies. The Old and IS^'ew School Presby- 
terian bodies have been consolidated into one organiza- 
tion, so that the distinctions maintained in this work 
are not strictly correct ; but in view of the fact that 
many will regard the causes of separation with great 
interest, and will desire to refer to some trustworthy 
account of the differences, the subject is allowed to 
remain unchanged, believing that the book will be 
more valuable on this account. 

The recent great changes in our relations and com- 
munications with the Chinese and Japanese have in- 
creased the interest in these peculiar peoples. A full 
account of their religious creeds and ceremonies seemed 
to be demanded, and it has accordingly been prepared 
with great care from the best sources, expressly for 
this work, and will be found exceedingly interesting. 
That the work will long continue a standard autho- 
rity, and be a blessing to mankind, is the wish of 

The Publishers. 
August, 1870. 



CONTENTS. 



PAftE 

Adventists 284 

Antinomians 152 

Anans 186 

Arminians 65 

Associate Reformed 108 

Athaiiasians 181 

Atheism 329 

Baptists 38 

Chinese 259 

Calixtins 193 

Calviaists 193 

Campbelhtes 250 

Catholics, Roman 7 

Church of God 806 

Church Government 332 

Christian Connection 320 

Cocceians 198 

Congregationalists 54 

Come-Outers 236 

Copts 318 

Covenanters 302 

Cumberland Presbyterians. 277 

Deism 329 

Dunkers 143 

Disciples 250 

Dutch Reformed 83 

Episcopal, Protestant 124 

Flagellants 254 

Friends, Orthodox 58 



! Fratres Albati ' 

! French Prophets 

! Free-Will Baptists 

Free Communion Baptists.. 

German Seventh-Day Bap- 
tists 

German Reformed 

Gnostics 

Greek Church 



Hicksite Quakers 

Hopkinsians 

Huguenots 

Humanitarians .... 
Hutchinsonians.. . 

Japanese , 

Jansenists 

Jesuits 

Jews 



Labbadists 

Latitudinarians 

Libertines 

Lutherans, Evangelical. 



Mahommedans 

ManicbeiRts 

Materialists 

Mennonists 

Methodists, Espiscopal. 
Methodists, Protestant. 
Millerites - 



PAOR 

254 
255 
114 
112 



308 

31 

199 

137 

51 

230 
94 
119 
240 
.2G4 
213 
214 
145 

257 

258 

258 

19 

171 
249 

2bo 
142 
72 
282 
284 



(5) 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Millenarians 116, 265 

Mormons 98 

Moravians 67 

Mystics 139 

Nestorians 241 

New Jerusalem Church 45 

Origenists 244 

Paganism 325 

Pantheism 327 

Pelagians 243 

Pre-Existents 271 

Presbyterians, Old School.. 155 

Presbyterians, New School. 81 

Presbyterians, Cumberland. 277 

Presbyterians, Reformed.... 302 

Progressive Friends 311 

Protestants 328 

Puritans 328 

Puseyites 290 

Quakers 58, 311 

Quietists '. 247 

Reformed, German 31 



PAGE 

Reformed, Dutch 88 

Reformed. Associate 108 

Reformed, Presbyterian 302 

Religions of the World 333 

St. Simonians 79 

Six Principle Baptists 143 

Servetians 206 

Shakers 216 

Socinians 204 

Spiritualism 323 

Seventh-Day Baptists 150 

Swedenborgians 45 

Theophilanthropists 94 

Tractarians 290 

Unitarians 167 

Uuiversalists 169 

United Brethren 67 

Wesleyan Methodists 281 

Wilkinsonians 138 

Winebrennerians 306 

Whippers 115 

Yesidees ; or, Worshippers 

of the Devil 32& 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



PAGE 

Rev. Charles Wadsworth ... 334 

Rev. J. B. Dales 337 

Rev. Albert Barnes 341 



PAGB 

Rev. W. H. Furness 347 

Rev. John Wesley 853 




K> > \A' 



Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore, Founder oi 
Catholic Church in United States. — Page 7 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 



THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The career of the Roman Catholic Church in the 
United States commenced in the winter of 1633, when 
Lord Baltimore landed with a number of immigrants near 
the mouth of the river Potomac in Maryland. He had 
obtained the charter of the colony of Maryland from 
Charles I., with the avowed intention of colonizing a new 
province, of which his brother, Lord Calvert, was to be 
the Governor. The great majority of the immigrants who 
accompanied these noblemen were Koman Catholics. The 
first act of the Governor after landing was to erect a cross 
upon the shore. He himself was a Catholic ; the whole 
administration of the colony was in the hands of the 
Catholics ; the laws which subsequently controlled the 
community were enacted and administered by Catholics ; 
and, therefore, it is with great truth asserted that the State 
of Maryland was first established by members of the Cath- 
olic Church. Contemporary with the founding of the col- 
ony were also the introduction and establishment of the 
Catholic Church and religion. 

The colony of Maryland was governed by laws of the 
most liberal description. Lord Calvert enacted that, in 
the civil government of the colony, there should be an 
absolute equality of rights extended to all religious per- 

(1) 



8 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

suasions, and that religious liberty and toleration should 
be one of the fundamental principles upon which that com- 
munity should ever afterward exist, and be conducted. 
The Assembly of the Province, composed for the most part 
of Roman Catholics, passed an "Act Concerning Reli- 
gion," by which it was ordained that no person within the 
limits of the colony should be compelled in any way to 
the belief or observance of any particular form of reli- 
gion ; and that, provided they did not conspire against the 
civil authority, no one should be interfered with in any 
way, in the enjoyment of the most absolute religious lib- 
erty. It cannot be denied that this enlightened and gen- 
erous policy furnishes a singular contrast and a burning 
reproof to the cruelty of the Puritans of New England, 
who burned and hanged human beings on account of their 
religious convictions; and to the Episcopalians of Vir- 
ginia, who in their turn persecuted the Puritans with almost 
equal ferocity. 

The religious services of the Catholic Church in Mary- 
land began on the 23d of March, 1634, when the first mass 
was celebrated on the Island of St. Clement, in the river 
Potomac. The priests who accompanied the Maryland 
colonists were Jesuits; and from that hour till the present 
time, the Catholic community in Maryland has continued 
to be numerous and influential ; although in the progress 
of time the influx of residents and settlers from various 
other States and from Europe, who were Protestants, 
gradually and without resistance withdrew from them the 
authority of the State, constituted a majority of voters, 
and divorced the administration of the colony from the 
possession and supremacy of its original holders. This 
state of things existed at the commencement of the Amer- 
ican Revolution. 

While the Roman Catholic Church was thus taking firm 
root in Maryland, her doctrines and worship were being 
gradually introduced in various places throughout the orig- 
inal thirteen States, and elsewhere on the American con- 
tinent. From 1634 till 1687, Catholic missionary priests 



HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. » 

cMeily Jesuits, were traversing the immense region wliich 
exists between Canada and the present site of New Orleans. 
A Jesuit, Claude Allouez, explored the then unknown 
southern shores of Lake Superior. Another Jesuit, Mar- 
quette, discovered the mouth of the Missouri River. A 
third, Menan, preached among the Mohawk Indians. Other 
members of the same order missionated among the Onon- 
dagas, the Oneidas, the Senecas, and the Miamis. During 
a hundred years this quiet and gradual process continued. 
Meanwhile, Catholics were emigrating into the various 
States from all the countries of Europe ; and Catholic 
churches, generally small in the beginning, were erected, 
which were supplied and visited by missionary priests as 
often as they were able, who thus administered the rites, 
and kept up the celebration of the services of the Church. 
" Father Former" was one of the first and most celebrated 
Catholic missionaries in Pennsylvania. '' Father Rasle" 
was equally distinguished for his apostolic zeal in Maine. 
Cardinal Cheverus was renowned for his sanctity and use- 
fulness in Massachusetts. Bishop England, at a later day, 
was renowned throughout the Southern States, especially 
in South Carolina, for similar qualities and similar achieve- 
ments. Archbishop Carrol was a worthy patron and ad- 
vocate of the Church of Maryland. The first Episcopal 
See established in this country was that of Baltimore ; 
and the Rev. John Carrol was elected and consecrated as 
its first prelate. This event took place on August 15th, 
1790, after the Catholic priests of the province, amount- 
ing at that period to twenty-four, had convened, and after 
due deliberation had chosen Dr. Carrol as the most suita- 
ble person to wear the Episcopal mitre, and therefore had 
commended him to the Pope for consecration. Dr. Car- 
rol received twenty-two votes out of the whole number. 
Subsequent to this period the Sees of New York, Phila- 
delphia, Boston, and Bardstown, were successively estab- 
lished, as the growth of the Church seemed to require. 
Several very eminent men have figured, and still flourish, 
in the more recent history of the Church. One of these 



10 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS, 

is Archbishop Hughes, of New York, who was formerly 
pastor of St. John's Church, in this city, who is justly 
esteemed as one of the most able, sagacious, and eloquent 
churchmen of the present time ; and whose rise from 
poverty and obscurity to distinction and influence, by the 
sheer force of his superior talents and personal merits, 
constitutes one of the most interesting and remarkable 
episodes in American history. Another very able Catho- 
lic prelate is Archbishop Kenrick, of Baltimore, formerly 
Bishop of this diocese. He is a man of more profound 
and extensive erudition than Dr. Hughes, and occupies an 
equally elevated position in the Church ; but he is his 
inferior in popular eloquence, in dexterity and craft, and 
in the efficiency with which he promotes the interests and 
extension of the Church. 

The Koman Catholic religion is pre-eminently a ritual 
one. Forms and ceremonies occupy a prominent place 
in her public worship and her private religious usages. 
Earnest and enthusiastic Protestants call the Church of 
Home the great drag-net of OTiristianity^ by which they 
mean that, as that Church descended the stream of time 
until the Reformation, she collected and preserved, as she 
went along, all sorts of rites, observances, superstitious 
conceits, doctrinal imaginings, and perversions, which the 
peculiar circumstances of each successive age and country 
may have originated and introduced ; and that she has 
preserved them all, by incorporating the whole of them, 
without selection or rejection, into her present established 
and now unalterable form of worship, belief, and govern- 
ment. We will leave our readers to judge for themselves 
of the truth or the falsehood of this compliment. Since 
the period of the Council of Trent, however, which com- 
menced its sittings in the year 1545, no change whatever, 
either in doctrine, or in government, or in ritual, has been 
introduced. The Decreta of that memorable assemblage 
fossilized the church, so that no change will ever again occur 
in anything that concerns her, except it be in violation of 
her wishes, and by persons hostile to her real genius. The 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 11 

only alteration which has been made during three centu- 
ries in the doctrinal system, or eredenda of the Church, 
has been the acknowledgment and proclamation of the 
dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, 
which has recently been promulgated at Kome as one of 
tfhe established principles of the true faith. 

What, then, are the chief doctrines which are taught 
f9j the Roman Catholic Church, and which are implicitly 
jind universally believed by the ^^ faithful" everywhere ? 

In every system of religious belief the doctrine con- 
cerning Grod^ the Supreme Being, lies at the foundation of 
9.li the rest. The existence of God, then his attributes, 
tlien his works, and then his providence, are the first and 
rundamental points which are discussed, determined, and 
adopted. Thus it is in regard to the doctrinal system of 
the Romish Church. The first point is that concerning 
God, {Be Deo,) and on this subject she teaches what Pro- 
testants term the Orthodox view of the Divine nature and 
being. She believes that God is self-existent, eternal, 
supreme, infinite in wisdom, goodness, justice, immutable, 
omnipresent, and omnipotent. At the same time she 
teaches that while there is but one true God, that single 
being is composed of three separate and divine persons — ■ 
the Father, the Son, and the ^oly Ghost — who exist to- 
gether in a mysterious and inexplicable manner, constitu- 
ting one single essence, yet composed of three divine and 
separate persons, who perform difierent and distinct func- 
tions. She teaches that the second person in the Trinity, 
the Son, proceeds by an eternal procession from the 
Father ; and that the Holy Spirit, the third person in the 
Trinity, proceeds by an equally eternal procession from 
both Father and Son. She teaches that the Son descended 
from Heaven to earth, assumed human nature, in conjunc- 
tion with the nature of the Infinite ; that he taught, suf- 
fered on the cross, and died for human guilt in order to 
avert the vengeance of God incurred \ij the fall of Adam, 
by man's inherited and original sin, and by his actual and 
habitual rebellion against the Divine law. The Catholic 



12 HISTORY OF ALL EELIGIONS. 

Church teaches that the Holy Spirit is the " Comforter' ' 
promised by Christ to his disciples ; and that this Spirit 
is sent by the Father into the hearts of the faithful. This 
Spirit, thus sent by the Father, is coequal in every respect 
with the Father. It is, in truth, the Infinite, Omni- 
present Jehovah, who, on one occasion, took the form of 
a dove, and descended visibly on Christ. At another time 
the Infinite Jehovah assumed the appearance of fiames of 
fire, as at Pentecost, and thus sat visibly on the heads of 
the disciples. 

Next in dignity to the Godhead, in the Catholic system, 
is the Virgin Mary. Innumerable prayers and petitions 
are offered to her, and she is invoked in all parts of the 
world at the same time. Hence we may infer that she is 
supposed to possess the attribute of Omnipresence ; else it 
were vain to pray to her in more places than one at the 
same time. But Omnipresence is an attribute which be- 
longs to God alone ; and, therefore, the ascription of it 
to the Virgin Mary seems like the ascription to her of a 
portion ,of the Divinity. She is called, moreover, the 
'' Mother of God ;" and those who make objection to this 
title are answered thus : '' Mary was the mother of Christ, 
was she not ?" " Yes." " Christ was God, was he not ?" 
"Yes." "Then, surely Mary is the mother of God." 
But the obvious reply to tills reasoning is, that Mary was 
the mother only of Christ's human nature ; and, there- 
fore, even though Christ were God, the union of a human 
and divine nature in Christ did not extend the maternity 
of Mary to both natures. It would be utterly impossible, 
for many reasons, for Mary to have been the mother of 
Christ's di^dne nature ; because no finite human being can 
give existence to an infinite being, any more than a pint 
measure can possibly hold a quart. Moreover, the Catho- 
lic Church teaches that Christ, as God, created all things : 
hence he crea^ted Mary; and if Mary was the mother of 
his divine nature, she actually gave birth to the same 
Omnipotent Being who created her ; — and therefore Mary 



filSTORY OF ALL KELIGIOKS. 13 

is not, and cannot be, the mother of God. She was 
simply the mother of the man, Christ Jesus. 

Recently the Catholic Church, by her highest authori- 
ties, has decreed the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin 
Mary ; and this doctrine is now, as we have said, a portion 
of the belief of the Church. A large portion of the ritual 
is devoted to prayers offered to her ; and in one place the 
same expressions, addressed to her with slight variations, 
are repeated forty times. In truth, the invocation of 
saints occupies no insignificant position in the worship of 
Catholics ; and doubtless many are encouraged and com- 
forted by the idea, that their interests are promoted by the 
interposition and the prayers of the good and wise, who 
have gone before them to the land of spirits, and have al • 
ready explored its solemn mysteries. 

The inspired authority of the Sonptures is one of the 
leading tenets of the Catholic Church : yet she contends 
that, though inspired, the Scriptures, are in themselves in- 
sufficient, incomplete, and defective ; and that the aid of Tra- 
dition is necessary in order to constitute the whole sum of 
Christian truth and doctrine. By Tradition is meant the 
oral teachings and sayings of the Apostles, which, though 
not committed to writing by themselves or by their imme- 
diate successors, were repeated from one person to another, 
and by this means communicated to the whole Church. 
Thus Paul says to Timothy : " The things which thou 
hast heard from me, before many witnesses, the same com- 
mit to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also." 
2 Tim. ii. 2. The chief argument used by Catholics in 
favor of Tradition is, that, by the use of Scripture, all the 
various sects may prove and establish their various and 
contradictory opinions ; whereas, Tradition is uniform and 
harmonious in defending only those doctrines which are 
held and taught by the Catholic Church. Protestants, on 
the other hand, retort to this assertion, that Tradition is 
more variable, contradictory, and diversified in its teach- 
ings, than even the Scriptures ; and if this argument has 



14 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

any weiglit against the authority and sufficiency of the 
Scriptures, it has much more weight against Tradition. 

The doctrine of the Catholic Church, in reference to 
the Church herself, is peculiar. She believes greatly in 
the external organization, the visible form, the outward 
crust of religion, which is termed the Church ; and holds 
that immense authority, prerogative, and sanctity, have 
been conferred upon her, as a separate and distinct entity, 
by Christ himself. Roman Catholics believe that the 
Church is entitled to absolute obedience from her members \ 
and of course, in this connection, obedience to the Church 
means obedience to the priesthood — for who ever heard 
of the priesthood obeying the laity ? And this doctrine 
is based on the words of Christ addressed to the Apostles : 
" Whosoever's sins ye remit, they are remitted." But 
the question naturally arises, whether this authority to for- 
give sins, like that of working miracles, was not confined 
to the Apostles only. The Catholic believes in the Unity 
and Universality of his Church. All theological writers, 
in treating of the attributes of the Christian Church, in- 
variably enumerate these two qualities as being fundamen- 
tally essential to the existence of the true Church ; where- 
as, every one who knows anything of the history of Chris- 
tianity during all past ages, knows perfectly well that there 
never was a time when any church or denomination pos- 
sessed either perfect Unity or Universality. Even 
previous to the Reformation, the Catholic Church could 
not boast of Unity ; for in every age there were diver- 
sities of opinion and difierences of doctrine. Even exter- 
nal Unity, the dryest, deadest, and most worthless of all, 
was never completely possessed ; and sometimes the ex- 
ternal divisions of the Catholic Church were carried even 
to the popedom, the supreme head of the Church, the in- 
fallible source of all authority ; and as many as three rival 
and hostile Popes existed at one and the same time, who 
fulminated, fumed, and cursed away against each other. 
As to Universality, it would be difficult, we think, to prove 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. lb 

that any religious sect possesses it at the present time, or 
ever possessed it. 

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that she is infalli- 
ble, and cannot err, in matters of faith. This opinion is 
defended by the following arguments : that Christ pro- 
nrised to his disciples that the Spirit of all truth should 
remain with them — she infers that this promise was in- 
tended to apply not only to the apostles, but also to their 
successors ; that Christ appointed Peter as the foundation 
of the Church, and that therefore if the gates of hell are 
not to prevail against her, she must have some infallible 
protection against falling into error. This infallibility 
centres in the Pope as the head of the Church on earth ; 
though unfortunately the Popes have at different times 
decreed directly contradictory decisions. To obviate this 
difficulty, a large proportion of eminent theologians in the 
Catholic Church have contended that this infallibility did 
not belong to the Pope alone, but to the Pope in conjunc- 
tion with a general or oecumenical Council. But suppose 
the Pope and the Council differ, as has repeatedly been the 
case, how then ? The Protestant answers, in fact, that 
the history of the Church proves that there has been as 
much disunion and difference of belief among Catholics as 
among other religionists ; and that this results from the 
fundamental laws of the human mind, which lead to differ- 
ences of opinion in spite of all authority. 

The Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments, 
while nearly all other sects have only two. The seven 
Roman Catholic sacraments are. Baptism, the Lord's 
Supper, Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy 
Order, and Matrimony. The most important of these 
sacraments in the estimation of the laity, is the Eucharist, 
or Lord's Supper. Catholics believe that the bread or 
wafer, after being consecrated by the officiating priest, is the 
body, blood, and divinity of Christ, and that, as there are 
at one single period of time myriads of consecrated wafers 
distributed over various countries of the earth, the body of 
Christ is necessarily divided and subdivided into an infinite 



16 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

number of portions, and received by the faithful every- 
where, while at the same time that body remains unmnti- 
lated in heaven. In other words, the doctrine of tran- 
substantiation, as held by Roman Catholics, is a mystery — 
a thing, the mode of which cannot be explained and de- 
fended to the satisfaction of common sense ; which is 
indeed revolting to every dictate of common sense; but 
which must be received, if received at all, by the exercise 
of a submissive and obedient faith. We must believe that 
it is so, because the Church teaches that it is so ; and to 
many sincere minds this is sufficient and satisfactory 
authority. The chief text of Scripture on which this doc- 
trine is based, is that in Matthew xxvi. 26-28, where 
Christ says : " Take, eat, this is my body," and giving the 
cup, said : " This is my blood of the New Testament, 
which is shed for the remission of sins." A consecrated 
wafer is constantly kept on the altars of the churches, and 
hence it is that Catholics suppose that they are in the im- 
mediate presence of God while they are in church ; and 
therefore they kneel to the wafer on the altar frequently, 
when entering and leaving the church, or when passing 
from one side of the sanctuary to the other. If indeed it 
be true that the great Creator and Sovereign of the uni- 
verse, or even a small fraction of him, is reposing on the 
altar, it is certainly proper enough to kneel to him, when 
in his direct presence. And it cannot be denied that 
this view of the thing leads to a much greater appearance 
of devoutness and solemnity in Roman Catholic Churches, 
than is to be seen in the churches of any other denomina- 
tion of Christians. 

The sacrament of Penance is connected with the duty 
of Auricular Confession. It is the popular notion that 
Catholic priests claim the power absolutely to forgive sins ; 
but though the laity may entertain this opinion, the 
Church herself does not teach it. Her doctrine really is, 
that after a sin has been sincerely repented of and entirely 
forsaken, and after it has been fully and freely confessed 
to the priest, then the latter is empowered to forgive it, 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. ll 

and remit the penalty wMcli might otherwise have followed 
it. St. James says : " Confess your sins to one another ;'* 
and on the authority of this passage the Confessional is 
based. But the Protestant here objects that these words 
plainly enjoin a mutual confession of each other's faults, 
whereas no priest ever confessed to a layman. Confession 
V3 always required in the Catholic Church before going to 
vhe Lord's Supper. A portion of Penance consists in 
eatisfaction — satisfaction to God, and satisfaction to the 
Church, whom the penitent has offended. Sometimes the 
j.riost sees fit to relax the rigor of the Church, and remit 
a portion of the penance or satisfaction which would other- 
wise be enjoined. This is called an indulgence. Old 
Tetztl once did a thriving business in selling these indul- 
gences for money, until Luther arrested his course, and 
" made a big hole in his drum," which silenced it forever. 
The abuses which existed in the sixteenth century, in 
reference to these indulgences, led to the first outbreak of 
the Reformation, and to the down-hreak of the Papal 
power throughout a large portion of Christendom. 

Roman Catholics administer Extreme Unction to those 
about to die, as a sacrament — a rite which is based on the 
words of St. James : "Is any sick among you, let him 
call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over 
him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord." 
The Church also regards Marriage as a sacrament ; mean- 
ing thereby that, when the ceremony is performed by a 
Catholic priest, a vow is thereby made to God, which can- 
not be dissolved. Hence the Church does not permit full 
divorces for any cause, even for those specified and allowed 
by the law of the land. Yet the Popes have frequently 
granted dispensations for divorces, whenever the interests 
of the Church were promoted by them, thus apparently 
making a fundamental law and principle subservient to 
interest. But the church permits limited divorces, or 
separations a mensa et thoro. 

The Invocation of Saints occupies a very prominent place 
in the worship and religious exercises of the Catiiolie 
2 



18 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Church ; for the reason that, if pious friends and relations 
when on earth pray for those whom they love, it is a rea- 
sonable inference that they would continue so to do, here- 
after, in Heaven. Of the truth and propriety of this 
view, there can be no doubt ; yet whether this considera- 
tion justifies us in offering them our prayers, when in 
another world, is a question on which men will be disposed 
to differ. 

Of Purgatory, or the intermediate state between death 
and judgment, the Catholic Church teaches, that the jus- 
tice of God will not punish those whose sins are of a 
trivial nature, to the same severe extent as those who are 
guilty of the most enormous crimes. Hence, as Hell is 
believed to be composed entirely of the elements of brim- 
stone and teeth-gnashing, without any grades of misery 
or diversity of torment, another place named Purgatory 
has very opportunely been discovered, where minor trans- 
gressions are disciplined by a lighter and more equitable 
punishment ; so that when their venial sins have been suffi- 
ciently suffered for, the purified spirits will be admitted to 
Heaven. 

A portion of the public services of the Catholic Church 
is celebrated in Latin. The reason of this is because the 
liturgy of the Church was anciently composed in that lan- 
guage, and a just reverence for antiquity induces her to 
retain the form in which her prayers were originally 
littered. In this country all the prayers are translated 
into English and printed, in the people's editions, togethei 
with the Latin. The Mass is a series of Latin prayers, 
during the utterance of which the consecrated host is of- 
fered to God by the officiating priest. The term Mass 
itself is derived from the concluding words of this solemn 
and imposing rite, which are '^Ite, missa est.'' In the 
great cathedral churches of Europe the ceremonies con- 
nected with this portion of Catholic worship are solemn, 
imposing, and sublime in a pre-eminent degree, and the 
spectacle has often led the most thoughtless and irreverent 
minds to pious and penitent emotions. 




Mautix Luturr Preachino. — Page 19. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 19 

Notwitlistanding tlie prevalence of Protestant sects and 
cliurclies, the Roman Catholic Church is still more numer- 
ous than any other single denomination. Her members 
may be said, at a rough guess, to amount to a hundred 
millions. In the United States they have increased with 
a steady and rapid pace during the last fifty years, till at 
the present time they are one of the leading denomina- 
tions. The spirit of this ancient and venerable church is 
aggressive, and her aspirations for extension never cease. 
But we believe that all those fears which some timid Pro- 
testants profess to entertain, of future danger to Ameri- 
can liberty from the encroachments of the Church of 
Rome, are most preposterous and absurd ; for that Church 
has enough to do to protect and preserve her own inte- 
rests and security, without having any means, even if she 
possessed the will, to interfere with the rights and inte- 
rests of others. 

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

One of the oldest of the Protestant churches, and in 
Europe one of the most distinguished, is the Evangelical 
Lutheran. There are probably more historical incidents 
of interest and importance connected with the early career 
of this sect, than belongs to any other. The name or 
title by which they are designated — the term Lutheran — 
was first applied to them by their opponents, the Roman 
Catholics. When Luther met Dr. John Eck, the Romish 
theologian, in his celebrated debate at Leipsic, 1519, the 
la,tter endeavored to stigmatize the friends of the Reformer, 
and to turn both him and them into ridicule, by calling 
them Lutherans, in opposition to Catholics and Christians. 
The term thus used in the first instance as one of reproach, 
became universally prevalent among the enemies and 
friends of the new sect ; and it has since become renowned 
and esteemed for the honorable and memorable associa- 
tions connected with it. The other title which Lutherans 
apply to themselves — that of Evangelical — is the one 



20 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

wliich Luther and Ms followers originally claimed, when 
they abandoned and renounced what they held to be the 
errors and abominations of the Romish Church. 

The birth of the Lutheran denomination may with some 
fitness be dated from the year 1507, in which Luther then 
a monk, and twenty-four years of age, first discovered a 
Latin Bible among the rubbish of his convent library, 
from the perusal of which he derived his novel and then 
almost unknown ideas in reference to the doctrinal system 
of Protestant theology. During ten years he continued 
to investigate and study the Scriptures, at the end of 
which period, in 1517, he made his first public foray into 
the territories of Rome, by attacking the sale of Indul- 
gences, which at that time was carried on by Tetzel, in 
the vicinity of Luther's residence. Luther refused abso- 
lution, as a priest, to those who had bought forgiveness of 
their sins with money from Tetzel. A violent controversy 
ensued between Luther and Tetzel, in reference to this 
business, in which the former gained an overwhelming 
advantage. His violent conduct, however, excited the in- 
dignation of the authorities of the Catholic Church, and 
the Papal Court decreed that his writings should be pub- 
licly burnt. In return for this compliment, Luther col- 
lected together some of the standard works of the Romish 
Church and burnt them, together with the condemnatory 
bull of the Pope, in the view of the inhabitants of the city 
of Wittenberg. To punish this audacity, the Pope fulmi- 
nated another bull or decree, excommunicating the refrac- 
tory and contumacious priest. Thus the breach was made 
irreparable, and the career and independence of the new 
sect were formally and publicly begun. 

The first churches, or religious organizations connected 
with this new sect, were established in Saxony. The 
monarch of that State, the Elector Frederic, became a 
patron of Luther at the commencement of his career : and 
as the Reformer was one of his subjects, being professor 
at Wittenberg, his favorite University, his protection was 
of immense value. Soon Reformed and independent 



HISTOEY 01 ALL RELIGIONS. 21 

churclies were established in every city and town of 
Saxony ; from Saxony the new faith spread rapidly into 
Hanover, Wurtemburg, Prussia, and many of the minor 
principalities which constituted the then Germanic Empire. 
The views of Luther even extended into France and Eng- 
land, into Denmark and Sweden ; and it may with truth 
be asserted that the most potent and efficient enemy which 
the Roman Catholic Church has ever met with, during the 
progress and vicissitudes of many centuries, was " Brother 
Martin," the Monk of Eisleben, the illustrious founder of 
Lutheranism. 

The history of the Lutheran Church in Europe presents 
two very marked and prominent features. Her conflicts 
have been divided between those which she waged with 
the Church of Rome, and those which were carried on 
within her own bosom by the disputes and everlasting 
differences of her own members. Debate and disturbances 
seem indeed to have been the natural and normal state of 
this sect during their whole past history. Even before 
the death of Luther, the opinions of Melanchthon, his most 
intimate and trusted friend, became so widely dissimilar 
from his own, that a coldness of feeling ensued between 
them. The various diversities of sentiment, among the 
Lutherans, were somewhat harmonized by the memorable 
Diet at Augsburg, at which the Confession or creed known 
by that name was set forth, as the system of doctrine 
which the Lutheran Churches then entertained. At a 
subsequent period efforts were made to terminate the dis- 
putes which raged between the Lutherans and the Catholic 
Church ; and the Reformers prepared a revised edition of 
the Augsburg Confession, called the Smalcald Articles, in 
which some concessions were made toward the Romish 
system. These purposes of conciliation ended in nothing. 
Luther died in 1546, in the sixty-second year of his age, 
and he left his followers an inheritance of great peril ; for 
they soon became involved in the horrors of war with the 
Emperor Charles V., who was then champion of the 
Romish Church and of its supremacy. The Elector of 



22 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Saxony and tlie Landgrave of Hesse were the political 
and military heads of the Protestant party. The Emperor, 
suddenly surrounded by the armies of the Protestants at 
Innspruck, in 1552, was compelled to make some impor- 
tant concessions to the Protestant leaders, which are 
known by the epithet of the Treaty of Passau. The Pro- 
testants eventually wrested from the Emperor an edict, by 
which he finally decreed and allowed that all those who 
had adopted the Confession of Augsburg should thence- 
forth be free from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the 
Roman pontiff, and were at perfect liberty to ordain laws 
for themselves in reference to all matters pertaining to 
their religious belief, discipline, and worship ; and all the 
inhabitants of the German Empire should be permitted to 
judge for themselves in religious matters ; and that who- 
ever should injure or persecute them, or any of them, on 
account of their opinions, should be treated as enemies of 
the Empire, and disturbers of its peace. 

At a subsequent period in the history of the Lutheran 
Church, another creed was added to their standards, in 
addition to those which we have already named, in order 
to aid in healing disputes and controversies which had 
arisen among her members and her theologians. This was 
called the Formula of Concord, which differs in some re- 
spects from the Augsburg Confession. The two catechisms 
of Luther, the Larger and the Smaller, also hold the rank 
of authority with the members of this sect ; so that the 
symbolical books which contain their creed, when taken 
altogether, are of enormous size and volubility. The con- 
sequence is that the utmost diversity of opinions exists 
among the Lutherans in the various countries of Europe 
where they prevail. Every possible shade of sentiment 
and belief can be found among them, from the semi-Romish 
" old Lutheran," who, like Luther, adheres to the doc- 
trine of consubstantiation, to the semi-Infidel, who, like 
Strauss, Paulus, Rohr, and the other modern rationalistic 
theologians of Germany, deny the inspiration and mira- 
cles of the Scriptures. In this country the same tendency 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 23 

to diversity of sentiment exists among the Lutherans, 
though it is not carried out to the same extremes ; and a 
certain degree of uniformity, together with considerable 
liberty, prevails among them here. 

From the period of Luther's labors the church which 
he Represented gradually spread over a large part of north- 
ern Europe. In 1525, it became the established Church 
of Saxony. In 1527 the Lutheran doctrines were intro- 
duced into Sweden, with the sanction of the monarch, 
Gustavus Vasa Ericson. Lutheranism was introduced 
into Denmark in 1527, under the reign of Frederic L, 
whence it was carried into Norway, Lapland, and other 
countries of the extreme North. During the progress 
of half a century after Luther's death, his doctrines 
were proclaimed by able and learned advocates in the 
Netherlands, in Poland, in France, besides in all those 
German States and communities which we have already 
named. 

In Europe the Lutheran Church is at the present time 
the most numerous of all the Protestant sects. Her mem- 
bers number eight millions in Prussia, two millions in 
Austria, two millions in Saxony, one million in Wurtem- 
berg, one million in Hanover, two millions in the smaller 
German States, two millions in Denmark, four millions in 
Norway and Sweden, two millions and a half in Russia, 
half a million in Poland, and a hundred and twenty thou- 
sand in the Netherlands. Lutheranism is the established 
religion in more separate States and kingdoms than is any 
other Protestant Church. There are more universities 
connected with this denomination than any other Protes- 
tant sect can boast of; for nearly all the great seats of 
learning in Germany exist in connection with that sect, 
and are served by professors, who, for the most part, are 
Lutherans. Yet it must not be inferred from this fact that 
there is any unity of opinion among these numerous asso- 
ciations of learned and scientific men ; for their belief ex- 
hibits thfc utmost possible differences. It no more implies 
unity or harmony of belief between people, to say of them 



24 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

in Europe tliat they are all Lutherans, than it would 
imply similarity of appearance and of character, to say 
of certain other people that they were all Swiss or all 
Frenchmen. 

The Lutheran Church in Germany has produced, during 
the several centuries of its past existence, a greater num- 
of learned and illustrious scholars than any other sect, 
either Romish or Protestant. It would be absurd to begin 
any enumeration of even a portion of these ; for they 
would form a catalogue of many hundreds. Her clergy 
in Europe are the most learned, as a body, in theological 
science, of any sect in the world. At a time when candi- 
dates for the priestly office in England and Scotland were 
admitted, without their being able to understand a single 
word of the Hebrew, in which the original of the Old 
Testament is written — and the knowledge and interpreta- 
tion of which are indispensable to every well-read theolo- 
gian, or even intelligent preacher — at that time the 
Lutheran churches in Germany required, and still require, 
in all their candidates for the sacred office, a perfect ac- 
quaintance with the original languages of the Scriptures, 
and an equally accurate knowledge of every other depart-' 
ment of theological science. It must be admitted that the 
three most influential and powerful sects in Europe at the 
present time, and since the Reformation, have been the 
"Church of Rome, the Reformed Church of England, and 
the Lutheran Church in Germany. 

We will now proceed to sketch the history of this last 
in the United States, and set forth the doctrines and 
usages which now predominate among her members and 
preachers. 

The first religious assemblage of Lutherans which ever 
existed in the United States was composed of a few immi- 
grants from Holland, who came to New York about 1630, 
a few years after the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth 
Rock, and while the colony of New York still remained 
under the jurisdiction of the Dutch. They belonged 
originally to the small community of Lutherans who lived 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 25 

in Holland, and wlio fled to this country probably to es- 
cape the horrors of the Thirty Years' War, which at that 
disastrous period threatened to exterminate Protestantism 
from Germany and the Netherlands. Their first minister 
was named Fabricius, who arrived in 1669, and who 
preached for them during eight years. Their first church 
was a log building erected in New York in 1671, for which 
a stone edifice was afterwards substituted. 

The next settlement of Lutherans in this country was 
that of the Swedes on the Delaware, at Philadelphia, in 
1636. They continued to hold their religious services in 
their native language for many years ; after this the pre- 
valence of the English around them, the difficulty of ob° 
taining native preachers from Sweden, and the fact that 
the other then existing Lutherans of this city held all their 
public exercises in the Q-erman language, induced the 
Swedish Lutherans to apply to the Protestant Episcopal 
Churches for a supply of ministers. This request was 
readily complied with ; and the consequence was, that in 
the progress of time the whole congregation were trans- 
ferred to the Episcopal Church, and were formally united 
with that body. 

The German Lutherans commenced to immigrate to this 
country about the year 1700, and gradually spread over a 
large portion of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
Virginia. In 1710, three thousand of them came from 
the Palatinate and settled in New York. In 1733, a large 
number established themselves in Georgia, at a place which 
they called Ebenezer. These were driven from Saltzberg, 
in Bavaria, by the persecutions of the Jesuits, who then 
exercised an absolute supremacy in that kingdom. This 
colony was supplied with native ministers from Germany, 
and they have ever since been a prosperous and highly 
respected community. When George Whitefield traveled 
in this country, he visited the Lutheran Churches in 
Georgia, and was much pleased with their piety and use- 
fulness ; and besides preaching for them, presented them 
with a bell for one of their churches, as a token of his 



26 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

esteem. The descendants of these people still adhere to 
the religion of their forefathers, and are connected with 
the flourishing Lutheran Synod of South Carolina and the 
adjacent States. 

The most numerous and prosperous colonies of Lutherans 
were located in Pennsylvania ; and about the year 1742 
they began to assume their first importance and promi- 
nence in the community. It was in that year that the 
great patriarch of American Lutheranism reached this 
country. This was the Eev. Henry Melchior Miihlenberg, 
a remarkable man in every respect, one of the most useful 
and distinguished persons in the history of this sect in 
this country. He is the direct ancestor of the well-known 
family of Miihlenbergs which still exists, and has pro- 
duced several men of eminence in the pulpit, in politics, 
and in the battle field. Previous to 1742, the Lutherans 
in Philadelphia worshiped in connection with a few mem- 
bers of the German Reformed Church, in a small log 
house, in the lower part of Arch street. Muhlenberg, 
having been sent out from the University of Halle, in 
Germany, as a missionary to supply the wants of the Lu- 
therans here, immediately commenced his labors, and these 
he continued with great success during nearly half a cen- 
tury. He was admirably adapted in every respect for his 
difficult post. He was one of the most learned men of his 
time, and could preach fluently in German, English, Dutch, 
French, Latin, and Swedish. He was also thoroughly versed 
in Greek, Hebrew, and several of the cognate Oriental lan- 
guages. He was one of the most laborious and indefati- 
gable of men. Probably no missionary every toiled in 
this country with more unremitting efi"ort than he. Often 
he preached four and five times on a Sunday, and in as 
many languages. He traveled extensively, and wherever 
his services were needed among the stray communities of 
Lutherans through the middle States, he was prompt and 
ready to bestow them. As might be expected, his work 
prospered ; he himself became greatly esteemed, and ac- 
quired an immense influence in the community. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 27 

Througli his instrumentality the first Lutheran Synod 
which ever convened in this country was held at Phila- 
delphia, in 1748. At that time there were only eleven 
preachers belonging to the sect in the United States, with 
fifteen congregations, and a community of fifty thousand 
people. During the Revolutionary war the Lutherans 
were zealous in the support of the cause of liberty. A 
son of Dr. Melchior Miihlenberg was a General in the 
Continental army ; and the Germans were prompt, accord- 
ing to their means, in assisting the good cause. Zion's 
church, their largest edifice then, and even still, in this 
country, located at Fourth and Cherry streets, in this 
city, was occupied at one time (in 1778) by the British 
army as a hospital. Their oldest church, that of St. 
Michael, at the corner of Cherry and Fifth streets, was 
also used by the British as a garrison church in the 
morning of Sunday ; though the congregation were allowed 
to occupy it in the afternoon. These outrages were con- 
tinued until the final expulsion of the invaders from the 
precincts of the city of Penn. 

After the Revolutionary war the Lutherans began to in- 
crease rapidly, not only by the growth of their native 
members, but by foreign immigration. In 1786, they had 
about twenty-five ministers ; and the number of the 
churches and pastors gradually grew, until, in the year 
1820, the most important event in their career which ever 
occurred in this country took place. This was the estab- 
lishment of their General Synod, by which the five or six 
separate District Synods which had previously risen into 
existence, in various portions of the country, were consoli- 
dated and united into one chief body. The results of this 
arrangement were soon felt, and were found to be highly 
beneficial. The General Synod served to give harmony, 
consistency, and unity to the various portions of the 
church which were scattered over the several States ; and 
this result was much needed. The members of the sect, 
\^ho immigrated to this country, came from the various 
Protestant States of Germany, and they brought with 



28 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

them the peculiar opinions and usages to which they had 
been accustomed at home. These are different and dis- 
similar in most of those States ; and the result would very 
naturally follow here, that considerable difference of 
opinion should prevail among the aggregate masses on 
every point of doctrine and worship. It is but due to the 
Lutherans to say that, though harassed by this tendency 
to diversity and discord, they have gradually coalesced 
into a degree of uniformity and homogeneity which could 
hardly have been expected. Yet one cause of this result 
is to be found in that indifference to church matters which 
gradually prevailed among many of them, when their at- 
tention became diverted toward the opportunities for ac- 
quiring wealth with which they were favored in this 
country. A large proportion of them, devoted to their 
pecuniary interests, did not care what became of the 
church of their forefathers ; and by giving twenty-five 
cents a year, to secure their right of burial, many of them 
became indifferent to the prosperity and welfare of that 
faith for which their forefathers had fought and suffered, 
and for the possession of which many of them had deserted 
their native land, and had ventured upon the perils and 
deprivations of a howling wilderness. 

One of the first fruits of the establishment of the Gene- 
ral Synod was the erection of the Theological Seminary at 
Gettysburg, Pa., intended to prepare the young men of 
the church for the ministry. This is the most important 
institution connected with the Lutheran sect in this country, 
and was established in 1825. It is provided with large 
and commodious buildings, and with one of the best theo- 
logical libraries in the country. The President of this in- 
stitution is Rev. S. S. Schmucker, D. D., who was elected 
its first professor in 1825 ; who still continues, after the 
lapse of thirty-three years, to fill the important duties of 
his office, and is the most eminent Lutheran theologian in 
this country. There are two other professors connected 
with the institution, completing the usual routine of the 
most thorough theological instruction. A large portion 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 29 

of the library was obtained by Dr. B. Kurtz from some of 
the universities and clergy of Germany and Denmark. 
As an auxiliary to the seminary, Pennsylvania College 
was founded at the same place in 1827, Dr. Schmucker 
and Thaddeus Stevens, Esq. being instrumental in pro- 
curing the charter of the institution from the Legislature. 
A branch of this college, and one of the most meritorious 
portions of it, is the Medical College in Ninth street, below 
Locust, in Philadelphia. 

The Schmucker family, like that of the MUhlenbergs, 
holds a prominent place in the history and development 
of the Lutheran Church in this country ; there being no 
less than eleven persons of the connection who have been, 
or now are, clergymen of that sect. The younger mem- 
bers of this family sometimes write theirnames " Smucker," 
for the sake of convenience and brevity. Other eminent 
names occur in the history of the Lutheran Church in 
this country, such as those of Dr. Helmuth, formerly pastor 
of Zion's Church in Philadelphia ; Dr. Kuntze, one of the 
best Oriental scholars of modern times ; Rev. Drs. Kurtz, 
Brunholtz, Handschuch, Lochman, Geissenhainer, Quit- 
man, (father of the late General Quitman of Mexican 
fame,) Schseffer, Demme, Mayer, and Bachman, of 
Charleston, the greatest of American entomologists. 

In addition to the institutions at Gettysburg the Lu- 
therans have a seminary at Columbus, Ohio ; another at 
Hartwick, New York ; others at Lexington, South Caro- 
lina, and at Springfield, Ohio. They have Education, 
Home Mission, Foreign Mission, and other benevolent 
societies. At present they number twenty-two synods, 
fifteen of which are connected with the General Synod. 
They have about five hundred ministers, fourteen hundred 
congregations, and a hundred and forty thousand regular 
communicants. They hold, in point of numbers and 
influence, a very respectable position among the secondary 
denominations of this country. 

In Europe the Lutheran Church is governed by bishops, 



80 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGHONS. 

and by superintendents, whose fanctions are the same as 
those of diocesan bishops ; but in this country parity ex- 
ists in their ministry, and each preacher is regarded as a 
bishop. In other words, their church government is Pres- 
byterian ; and their doctrines, or the doctrines which are 
entertained by the great majority of them, are termed 
EvangelicaL They believe in the Trinity, the Deity of 
Christ and of the Holy Spirit, the vicarious atonement, 
and the fall of man ; but they discard the doctrine of Pre- 
destination and Absolute Decrees of God respecting Man's 
Salvation. They hold to Justification by Faith alone ; to 
the necessity of good works, nevertheless ; and to the eter- 
nity of future hell-fire for the finally impenitent. Their 
opinions exhibit the greatest diversity on the subject of 
the Lord's Supper ; some of them adhering to the dogma 
of Consubstantiation, as taught by Luther ; while others 
hold that the bread and wine are merely commemorative 
symbols of the broken body and shed blood of Christ. 
Luther declared to the last his belief in Consubstantiation. 
In one of his later works he says : "I should have wished 
to have denied the real presence of Christ in the Eucha- 
rist, in order to confound the Papists. But so clear and 
strong are the words of Scripture which establish it, that 
in spite of my inclination so to do, and though I strained 
every nerve to reach the point, yet I could never persuade 
myself to doubt or deny it." Hence the "old Lutherans," 
who profess to be strict Lutherans, adhere to this opinion ; 
though their numbers in this country are comparatively 
few. The vast majority, however, go to the opposite ex- 
treme, strip the Eucharist of all mystery, and invest it 
only with a commemorative efficacy. The Lutherans also 
difier about " old and new measures," some being opposed 
to prayer meetings and other revival ways and means ; 
while others adopt the Methodist method of converting 
sinners, and sometimes carry their usages to the utmost 
possible limits. These Lutherans are, however, found 
chiefly in the western States. They claim the liberty to 
believe and reject the Augsburg Confession, which is the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 81 

principal creed of the sect, when they please and as far as 
they please. The rationalistic Lutheran theologians of 
Germany, many of whom are the most learned men of the 
age, assert that they carry out the great principle of the 
Reformation — that of private judgment in religious mat- 
ters — to its full and legitimate extent ; and thus each one 
of them has a creed of his own. There are a few German 
Lutheran Churches in this country who belong to this wing 
of the sect, some of whom are Unitarians, and others as 
good as Infidels and Eationalists. But with these heretics 
the main body of the Lutheran Church hold no communi- 
cation whatever, regarding their sentiments with horror 
and condemnation. 

GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. 

The German Reformed Church, as it exists both in 
Europe and in this country, is historically descended from 
the Swiss churches which were established in the sixteenth 
century, through the instrumentality of the distinguished 
reformer, Ulric Zwingli. The original seat of the sect 
was in Switzerland ; but many of these churches exist in 
the various Protestant States of Germany, as well as in 
this country. 

Zwingli was the contemporary of Luther. He commenced 
his reforming zeal nearly at the same time, and was led 
to the adoption of his Protestant sentiments by a process 
somewhat similar to that used by Luther. He was born 
at Wildhaus, in the canton of Schweitz, in January, 1484. 
At an early age he exhibited proofs of superior intelli- 
gence ; and his parents, who were poor, made every effort 
to give him the benefit of a learned education. He was 
intended for the priesthood, as the best avenue which could 
then be found for the display of talent and the gratifica- 
tion of ambition. In due time he was ordained as a Roman 
Catholic priest, after having completed his studies at the 
University of Basle. In 1506 he became the parish priest 
of Glaris, a village near his native Wildhaus, and here he 



32 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

commenced to study and examine the Scriptures with spe- 
cial reference to the absurdities which were committed by 
the pilgrims who at that time traveled to the venerable 
shrine at Einsidlen, which, by some imposture or other, had 
at that time acquired a widely-spread notoriety. By op- 
posing this local superstition, he invited and incurred the 
condemnation of his ecclesiastical superiors ; while at the 
same time he acquired great popularity among the multi- 
tude as a young man who was able and determined to ex- 
ercise some freedom of thought. His growing fame at 
length procured for him the post of preacher in the cathe- 
dral church of Zurich. This event occurred in Decem- 
ber, 1518. He was an eloquent speaker ; and though 
while at Glaris his morals had not been any better than 
they should be, this defect was overlooked and gradually 
overshadowed by his superior abilities as an orator. 

Meanwhile Luther was carrying forward the Reforma- 
tion of Wittenberg, and the new doctrines which he pro- 
pounded and defended found a ready and an able advocate 
in Zwingli. The latter preached one novelty after another 
as fast as he became convinced, by a careful examination 
of its Scriptural authority, until he had gone over the 
whole ground of Protestant theology. During the pro- 
gress of these labors many of the Swiss cantons became 
the partizans of the Protestant cause ; and the centre of 
the new faith remained at Zurich, of which city Zwingli 
was the leading and most powerful intellect. In some re- 
spects, and on several important points, Zwingli differed 
from Luther, especially in regard to the nature of the 
Lord's Supper. For the purpose of comparing their views, 
and, if possible, of forming an ecclesiastical and religious 
union, they held several conferences together ; but in both 
cases the rude and resolute manner in which the Saxon Re- 
former insisted on his own peculiar and unmodified opin- 
ions as being the only and the immutable truth, and his 
determination not to depart a single jot from his previ- 
ously expressed sentiments, rendered all prospect of ac- 
commodation utterly hopeless, and sadly disappointed the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 33 

charitable hopes which Zwingli had reasonably enter- 
tained on the subject. 

Zwingli, therefore, proceeded to carry on his reforms in 
Switzerland in entire independence of the movements of 
Luther. One canton after another declared in favor of 
the Reformation, until all, save five of them, ranged them- 
selves on that side of the dispute. The names of those 
which refused to do so were Uri, Lucerne, Schweitz, Unter- 
b alt en, and Zug. It is probable that, had the Reformer 
lived longer, he might have been able to extend his doc- 
trines among the inhabitants of these cantons also ; but in 
October, 1531, a religious war was declared between the 
cantons of opposite faith, and Zwingli went forth as chief 
chaplain in the army of his confederates. He was slain 
at the battle of Cappel, and thus prematurely terminated 
a career which might have ultimately led to very impor- 
tant and permanent results. Zwingli was an inferior man 
to Luther in every sense. He was his inferior in native 
genius, in learning, in boldness, in eloquence, in the ex- 
tent and grandeur of the arena on which he labored, in 
the results which he produced, in the fame which he ac- 
quired, and in the completeness and duration of his public 
career. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, Zwingli 
occupies a very honorable place in history, as the founder 
of the German Reformed Church. 

After the death of Zwingli, his place as the head of this 
church was assumed by a much greater man than himself 
— by John Calvin — who resided at Geneva, and rendered 
that city the head and centre of Swiss Protestantism. 
Calvin differed from Zwingli on several points; especially 
on the nature of the Lord's Supper, and on the proper 
nature of church government. Zwingli regarded the 
Eucharist merely as a commemorative symbol of Christ's 
death ; while Calvin taught that the worthy communicant 
received, in the bread and wine, the actual body, blood, 
and bones of Christ. As to church government, Zwingli 
was in favor of subjecting the church to the civil authority, 
so far as her temporal and secular affairs were concerned : 



34 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

while Calvin contended tliat in all things, both temporal and 
spiritual, the church ought to be wholly free and separate 
from the civil power. Calvin never succeeded in persuad- 
ing the Swiss, much less any German community, to re- 
ceive and adopt his views of church government, though 
they were doubtless founded in truth and justice. 

The German Reformed Church in the United States 
took its rise about the year 1720, when the first immi- 
grants who belonged to that sect came to this country. 
These settled in Eastern Pennsylvania ; but other churches 
were gradually formed in various portions of this State, 
and subsequently in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and 
the Carolinas. In this country their church government 
is essentially Presbyterian. Some of the congregations 
of this sect are in a flourishing condition ; though they 
never have had any very large churches, nor have they 
had any eminent or distinguished persons among their 
membership. In this respect, as well as regards numbers, 
wealth, and social influence, they have always been infe- 
rior to the Lutheran and Dutch Reformed churches. 

The creed of this sect is set forth in the Heidelberg 
catechism. Their doctrines are regarded as orthodox, be- 
lieving as they do in the Trinity, the vicarious atonement, 
and other fundamental points of Protestant theology. 
The Heidelberg Catechism was drawn up in 1563, and 
adopted at the city of that name. Its purpose was to effect 
a compromise between the Reformed Churches of Switzer- 
land and Germany ; and it was composed by several emi- 
nent and learned men who represented s'n^eral difierent 
parties. These were Dr. Zacharias Ursiiius, who was a 
disciple of Melanchthon, Dr. Casper Olevi-anus, a follower 
of Calvin ; and the Elector Frederic III., sovereign of the 
Palatinate, of which Heidelberg is the capital, who was a 
disciple of Zwingli. This catechism says nothing about 
the cardinal doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin to 
his posterity ; the atonement is regarded as general, in 
opposition to Calvin's opinion ; and the theories of Calvin 
and Zwingli about the Lord's Supper are so mingled, that 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 35 

n compound of the two is made. It also teaches that 
mankind cannot repent without the assistance of the Spirit 
of God ; yet it admits that when the Spirit impels and 
urges men to repent, they have the power to resist that 
impulse and act as free agents. The doctrine of Predes- 
tination was never received by the German Reformed 
Church, either in a formal manner, or by any great num- 
ber of its members, until w^ithin a few years, in conse- 
quence of the existence of causes in this country to w^hich 
we will now advert. 

In the year 1844, the General Synod of the German 
Reformed Church resolved to send to Germany to procure 
the services of a German Professor for their Seminary, at 
Merccrsburg, who would be better qualified than any of 
their native ministers to teach theology to their candidates 
for the clerical office. After Svome investigation they se- 
lected Dr. Philip Schail, at that time an under-teacher, or 
jjrofessoT extraordinarius, of theology in the University of 
Berlin, who had already acquired some reputation as a 
scholar and a man of ambitious energy, who seemed to 
possess peculiar qualifications for the vacant place. He 
accepted the invitation, removed to this country, and at 
once bega,n to perform the duties of his office. Dr. Schaff 
is unquestionably a man of superior learning and ability ; 
and the activity in elaborating ponderous books in the de- 
partment of Church History, which he has since displayed, 
may well excite the astonishment and despair of American 
authors and scholars. His associate at Mercersbui^g was 
Dr. John W. Nevin, formerly a clergyman of the old 
school Presbyterian Church. Dr. Schaff brought with 
,him to this country all his peculiar views in theology, 
which may be characterized as being strongly conservative, 
in opposition to everything like progress or freedom. His 
opinions are, in fact, very much like the Puseyite school 
m the Episcopal Church ; having great reverence for the 
Romish Church, and entertaining very intense admiration 
for the usages and institutions of the Middle Ages, which 
he is horrified to hear ignorant people in this country call 



36 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

the " Dark Ages." "No sooner had Dr. Nevin been brought 
within the range of his influence than he became a violent 
convert to Dr. Schafi''s opinions, and the pair soon com- 
menced between them the work of revolutionizing the 
whole system of belief and of church usage, which had 
till then prevailed in the German Reformed denomination 
in this country. Prominent among the antique novelties 
introduced by them was a singular and most preposterous 
theory in regard to the nature of the Lord's Supper, the 
peculiar features of which we will endeavor to explain. It 
was in substance as follows : 

That, in the sacrament of the Supper, the glorified hu- 
manity of Christ, his body, bones, and blood, are actually 
present ; that they are mysteriously united with the con- 
secrated-emblems ; and that they thereby become virtually 
and actually united with and received by the worthy com- 
municant. This doctrine Dr. Nevin defended at length, 
in a work which he soon after published, entitled "The 
Mystical Presence ;" and the title was well deserved, for 
never before nor since has the world seen so admirable a 
specimen of mysticism mystified. While asserting this 
doctrine, which, in reality, is nothing more nor less than' 
Consubstantiation, Dr. Nevin declared, at the same time, 
that he rejected all idea of a '' local presence ' of the body 
and blood of Christ ; contended that '' the communion of 
the believer is spiritual, and not material — a participation 
of the Saviour's life." Yet how these assertions can be 
reconciled with those in which he contends for the actual 
presence of the flesh and blood of Christ in the Sacrament, 
as plainly as language could possibly make or express it, 
no one can imagine ; and every reasonable person must 
come to the conclusion that the doctrine is one of those 
theological and metaphysical abstractions which more than 
once have been innocently foisted on the Christian Church 
by men of influence and reputation. 

Accordingly, Drs. Nevin and Schaff went to work and 
endeavored to introduce this new doctrine — wliich they 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 37 

contended, and with some truth, was the real doctrine of 
Calvin — into the German Reformed Church. Few of the 
ministers of the sect could fully comprehend what these 
learned doctors meant ; but as such able men as Schaff 
and Nevin assured them that that was the doctrine both 
of Calvin and of the Scriptures, they concluded that it 
must be so, and inferred that all was right. Accordingly, 
the several synods adopted resolutions approving of this 
doctrine ; and at the same time endorsing several other 
theological crotchets — old-time, fossil, mediaeval conceits 
about the Church and the ministry, which Dr. SchaiBf had 
imbibed when a student at the University of TUbingen, 
which is the most antiquated and conservative Protestant 
university in Europe, and teaches doctrines more than 
semi-Romish. 

The result of this resolution was that the new system 
introduced into the German Reformed Church in this 
country has destroyed much of the vitality which it had 
previously possessed. The best men whom the Church 
contained, such as Dr. Berg and Rev. S. Helfenstein, 
withdrew in disgust ; and since that period the denomina- 
tion has made little progress. Dr. Schaff continues to write 
enormous books at Mercersbug, which very few people 
read ; and lectures on theology to a seminary composed 
of four or five students ; while Dr. Nevin has retired from 
the field, and enjoys his dolce far niente at Lancaster, in 
this State. Some people assert, however, that he is 
laboriously preparing to edify the world with another 
immense volume in behalf of the Mystical Presence, the 
mysticism of which he has been doing his utmost for some 
years to illuminate. 

In this country the German Reformed Church have 
about two hundred and fifty ministers, and about five hun- 
dred congregations. They have a General Synod, and 
various classics or district synods. Their literary institu- 
tions, such as Marshall College, and the Theological Semi- 
nary at Mercersburg — the former of which we believe is 



38 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

now removed to Lancaster — are not very prosperous ; yet 
many individual churches of the denomination are 't} a 
very flourishing condition. 

THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

Those religious people to whom the term " Baptist" is 
applied, both in this country and in Europe, are divided 
into a variety of minor sects who are known by various 
epithets, such as Free Will Baptists, Free Communion 
Baptists, Seventh Day Baptists, and several others. The 
most extensive and important denomination of this class, 
however, are those known by the simple word "Baptists," 
and these are probably the most numerous and one of the 
most influential sects in the United States ; and of these 
we propose to speak in this article. 

The Baptists claim to be the oldest of the present di- 
visions of Christendom, on the ground that their method 
of administering the right of baptism by immersion is the 
only one, as they contend, practiced by the apostles and 
the primitive Church, and the only one which ought to be 
practiced in succeeding ages. They hold that as baptism 
was and is the only method of admission to the Church, 
and as immersion is the proper way of administering this 
rite, those only can be members of the Christian Church 
who have thus been admitted. Consequently those who 
have been merely sprinkled are not baptized ; and as, in 
the early ages, we hear nothing of infants being baptized, 
but only such as had first "believed," and were old 
enough to exercise faitJi^ they therefore infer that adults 
only are suitable subjects for this rite, which incorporates 
them with the Church of Christ. It is undoubtedly true 
that the preponderance of proof is in favor of the position 
that baptism was, in the first instance, administered only 
by immersion ; that the very word for baptism used in the 
Greek New Testament means plainly to " immerse," and 
not sprinkle ; and that the ablest opponents of the Bap- 
tists have been compelled to admit that the argument 



HISTOllY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 39 

drawn from th( early practice of the Church is in their 
favor. 

The history of the Baptists may therefore be said, in 
one sense, to begin with the apostles. But several gene- 
rations after their day, the universal practice of the 
Church had gradually become changed, and the sprinkling 
both of infants and of adults had taken the place of the 
primitive rite. As a sect, or separate organization, they 
never existed for many ages, until the rise of Peter 
Waldo, in the twelfth century, who established the sect of 
the Waldenses among the mountains and valle^^s of Pied- 
mont. One of the prominent doctrines which he and his 
followers believed was the impropriety of the baptism of 
infants, and the necessity of immersion to the validity of 
any baptism. 'V^aldo commenced his reforming career in 
1180; and during several centuries those wdio received his 
doctrine endured immense persecutions, according to the 
prevalent spirit of the times, from the Boman Catholic 
Church, which ^^'as then predominant throughout Europe. 

Those Christians who adhere to ''believers' baptism," in 
opposition to the sprinkling of infants, next appear as a 
sect, in the sixteenth century, under the epithet of the 
"Anabaptists of Munster." These were fanatics of the 
worst description, who did an infinite degree of harm, and 
met with a terrible fate ; but they had no connection 
whatever with jiiodern Baptists, except in the single face 
that they immersed. The Munster Baptists may more 
properly be regarded as the predecessors of the modern 
Mennonites, who are indeed directly historically descended 
from them. In 1338, Walter Lollard, a Hollander of 
learning and distinction, who adhered to the doctrine of 
the Baptists, visited England, preached and made many 
converts, who wt^re known by the epithet of "Lollards," 
after their leadei. During the reign of Henry VIII., and 
Edward YL, they greatly increased in numbers ; though 
subsequently, tLey were cruelly persecuted under Queen 
Mary. On one occasion as many as fourteen suffered 
death, rather than renounce their religious convictions. 



40 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Notwithstanding fire and sword, however, these people 
continued to increase, and gradually the name by which 
they were designated was changed from Lollard to Bap- 
tist, and they acquired more and more importance and in- 
fluence. At length religious liberty and personal security 
were granted them by Cromwell, who had overthrown the 
pernicious tyranny of Charles I., and had established the 
Commonwealth. It was during the reign of Charles II., 
that those events occurred which planted the Baptist name 
and faith in the New World. 

The chief instrument in producing this result was the 
celebrated Roger Williams, who was a native of Wales, 
and originally a clergyman of the Church of England. 
Becoming dissatisfied both with the doctrines and the 
government of that church, he determined to remove to 
the then infant colony of Massachusetts. His voyage 
terminated in February, 1631, and he first became a resi- 
dent and a pastor at Salem. At that period he was a 
Puritan, and had not yet publicly announced his new 
views on the subject of Baptism. But when, some years 
afterward, he did so, he was expelled from the territory 
of the colony, and compelled to seek a new home else-, 
where. Then it was that he and a few devoted followers 
removed to the region of country, then inhabited wholly 
by Indians, which now constitutes the State of Rhode 
island. There he established the first regular Baptist 
Society in this country, at Providence, in March, 1639. 
Other societies were soon formed in other localities in the 
State, and the Baptists thus became the founders and 
chief citizens of one of the sovereign Commonwealths of 
this confederacy. During the progress of several centu- 
ries the denomination has gradually increased in all the 
States, and especially in the south, until at the present 
time, as their statistics show, they exceed in point of 
numbers every other sect in the community. 

The doctrinal system of this denomination of Baptists, 
is Calvinistic and Orthodox. They believe in the eternal 
decrees of God, in reference to the salvation of the Elect, 





First B\ptist Church, Broad and Arch 
Streets, Philadklphia. — P'irje 41. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 41 

and hold that such as have heen predestined to be saved 
from the foundation of the world shall be saved, and no 
others. At the same time their method of preaching is very 
earnest and practical — as much so as that of the Metho- 
dists — and they are very zealous in laboring for the con- 
version of sinners. It is to this fact that their remarkable 
increase in this country is to be attributed. They are also 
great proselytizers among the members of other churches, 
by means of arguments and reasonings in reference to the 
true nature and method of baptism. Their fundamental 
principle on this point is, that Christians should not admit 
anything as an article of belief or of duty which is not 
taught in the Scriptures, and sanctioned by the practice 
of the Apostles themselves. Every other doctrine or rite 
they hold to be a mere human invention. They apply 
this principle to baptism, and contend that both the teach- 
ings of the New Testament and the example of the Apos- 
tles are plainly in favor of "believers' baptism," in pre- 
ference to infant sprinkling; the former is right, and the 
latter a wholly unauthorized innovation. In support of 
this doctrine they can array, besides Scripture proofs, a 
host of concessions and admissions which the most distin- 
guished writers of other sects have made, which clearly 
admit the greater propriety of immersion, and thus con- 
cede the truth of the doctrine of the Baptists. 

Nothing is more curious than the- extraordinary fullness 
of these concessions from their opponents, and they are so 
remarkable that we will repeat a few of them. Bishop 
Burnet says : "To baptize means to plunge, as is granted 
by all the world." Calvin says: "The custom of the 
ancient churches was not sprinkling, but immersion." 
Eossuet admits that " the word baptize means to immerse, 
and the rite of immersion was observed by the ancient 
church." Dr. Doddridge says: "It seems the part of 
candor to admit that baptizing by immersion was most 
usual in early times." Whitefield declares that "the 
manner of baptism was by immersion." It certainly 
seems to be unaccountable that writers who are willing to 



42 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

make admissions siicli as these, should still have adhered 
to sects which practice the sprinkling of infants, and which 
have wholly abandoned the practical observance of the 
rite, the scriptural and apostolical authority of which they 
do not deny. 

Although Baptists place so much importance in the 
mode of administering this rite, they do not go as far as 
some other sects in their views of the miraculous results 
of baptism when administered. They do not believe, with 
the Roman Catholic and the Episcopalian, that it neces- 
sarily regenerates the nature of the baptized person ; and 
they insist that unless repentance and faith accompany 
this sacrament, it is of no avail, and produces no moral 
benefit whatever. Baptism with them is a sign of the fellow- 
ship of the recipient with Christ, of the remission of his 
sins, and his heirship of eternal life ; '' provided ahvays^'' it 
be accompanied v>^ith repentance and change of life. They 
admit but one other sacrament, that of the Lord's Supper, 
which they regard merely as a commemorative ordinance, 
to remind Christians, till the end of the world, of the suf- 
ferings and death of Christ. 

The Baptists further believe in the total fall and cor-- 
ruption of human nature, and in man's utter inability to 
do anything whatever towards his own salvation. Hence 
they hold to the doctrine of election ; because as God only 
enables men to repent, and as but few do repent, it is in- 
ferred therefore that he aids but a few, leaving the balance 
to the consequences of their own original sin, which 
they inherited from old Adam through the fall, and of 
their actual sins, which are the legitimate result of the 
former. 

The church government of the Baptists is purely con- 
gregational. Each society is a separate and independent 
organization, and has entire control over all its ow^n affairs. 
They think that the apostolic churches were organized in 
this way, and that these were proper models for the .guid- 
ance of Christians in succeeding ages» Their church ofii- 
cers are bishops, or presbyters, who preach, and deacons 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 43 

who assist and have cha^rge of the temporal affah'S of the 
congregation. Yet though the Baptists are Congregation- 
alists or Independents in this respect, they long since felt 
the necessity anc? advantage of a certain degree of inter- 
course among their various churches, in different portions 
of the community ; and hence they are accustomed to hold 
what are termed " Associations." When difficulties occur 
between a congregation and its pastor, a council of neigh- 
boring ministers is called together, who take the facts of 
the case into consideration, and give their opinion upon the 
merits. But their agency or influence is merely advisory ; 
and they have no authority to prescribe any particular 
course of action in the matter, either to the church or to 
the preacher. The associations are composed of delegates 
from the congregations existing within certain limits, and 
they meet merely to consult together about the common 
interests of the churches, and to engage in religious exer- 
cises of more than ordinary earnestness and duration. 
Besides these associations they have " Conventions," which 
are composed of delegates from several associations, whose 
objects are to carry forward and promote the operations 
of the Missionary, Bible, Tract, and other benevolent op- 
erations of the sect ; to give counsel and advice in doubt- 
ful and disputed cases, and to hold religious exercises. 

Formerly the preachers of this denomination were in- 
ferior to those of several others in their literary and theo- 
logical attainments. This defect has heen greatly im- 
proved during the last few years. The Baptists have now 
under their care some of the best colleges and seminaries 
in this country. Among these are Brown University, at 
Providence, Rhode Island, over which the able Dr. Way- 
land presided for many years ; Madison University, at 
Hamilton, New York ; Georgetown College, at George- 
town, Kentucky ; Newton Theological Seminary, at New- 
ton, Massachusetts ; and other theological institutions at 
Covington, Kentucky ; Hamilton, New York ; and New 
Hampton, New Hampshire. The consequence of the ex- 
istence and operations of these various establishments has 



44 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

been to elevate the standard of literary merit amon'g the 
clergymen of this church, until it is now nearly equal to 
that of any of their contemporaries. 

In England the Baptists can boast of many distinguished 
men, prominent among whom were Bunyan, author of "Pil- 
grim's Progress;" John Gill, the Commentator; Robert 
Hall, the most eloquent preacher of his time, who declared, 
in reference to the voluminous works of Dr. Gill, that they 
were " a continent of mud ;" Dr. Ryland ; John Foster, the 
celebrated essayist ; and more recently, Mr. Spurgeon, at 
present the most popular preacher in London. In the 
United States the Baptists have also had some eminent 
men, among whom are Drs. William Staughton, Wayland, 
Judson, the missionary, Howard Malcomb, Barnas Sears, 
the learned Biblical critic, and Fuller, of Baltimore. The 
present statistics of this denomination show a vast increase 
during the last half century. In 1795 there were in the 
United States but nine hundred churches, eleven hundred 
preachers, and seventy thousand communicants. At the 
present time a sufficiently accurate computation gives them 
about ten thousand churches, six thousand ordained minis- 
ters, and nine hundred thousand regular members — which 
number, by including negroes in the Southern States, may 
readily be augmented to a sum total of one million. These 
estimates, we believe, much exceed those of any other de- 
nomination in the United States. 

The Baptists are distinguished by their great zeal and 
enterprise in foreign missions. They have flourishing sta- 
tions in Burmah, Siam, China, India, Ceylon, Australia, 
and Liberia ; and some of the most successful missionaries 
of modern times have labored under the auspices. Such 
were Judson and Kinkaid, men of unsurpassed ability and 
usefulness in this difficult and self-denying enterprise. It 
is probable that, at the present time, ten thousand natives 
of the Asiatic countries just named are regular members 
of their missionary churches. In consequence of fche fun- 
damental differences between the Baptists and other Evan- 
gelical Christians on the subject of baptism, they have 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 45 

prrtritted for themselves a new translation of the Scrip- 
tures, in which the word " baptize" is uniformly rendered 
'immerse," in accordance with their peculiar views on 
fchis suoiect. 



SWEDENBORGTANS. 

The religious community founded by Emanuel Sweden- 
boig is properly called the "New Jerusalem, or New 
Christian Church;" and while other sects boast of their 
antiquity, and of their connection and identity with the 
prhuitive apostolic Church, this sect regard^ it as a greater 
evidence of truth to possess the character of innovators, 
and to improve upon the old religion of previous ages. 
The peculiar nature of their doctrines has prevented them 
from becoming a very large or influential community ; 
for there is a great deal of mystery, profundity, and 
difficulty involved in their belief, which makes the common 
understanding revolt from it. 

Emanuel Swedberg was born at Stockholm, in Sweden, 
m 1688. His father, Jesper Swedberg, was first a chap- 
lain in the army, and afterwards the Bishop of Skara, in 
West Gothland. Emanuel received a liberal education, 
and indicated his superior talents by his great success and 
proficienc}^ in many departments of learning, especially in 
philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, anatomy, and langua- 
ges. In 1716, he received from the king the appointment 
of Assessor Extraordinary of the Metallic College, in 
Stockholm. Several years afterward, in consequence of 
his abilities and services, the rank of a noble was con- 
ferred upon him, at which time he changed his nam^e from 
Swedberg to the more sonorous one of Swedenborg. He 
thus became a member of the Equestrian Order, in Swe- 
den, and took his seat in the Assembly of the States. 
He retained his office in the Metallic College from 1716 
till 1747 — a period of thirty-one years; and although a 
higher and more important office was then tendered to 
him, he declined it, in order that he might devote his 



46 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

whole attention to the exposition and propagation of the 
peculiar opinions which he had adopted. These opinions 
he made known, from time to time, in the manj works 
which he published, all of which bear evidence of extraor- 
dinary intellectual powers, of great learning and industry, 
but at the same time of a visionary and imaginative ten- 
dency, which has no parallel in the history or development 
of the human mind. He lived to the great age of eighty- 
five, and died at London in 1772. He was universally 
esteemed for his personal qualities, admired for his learn- 
ing and abilities; and he numbered among his intimate 
friends many of the most eminent persons of his time. 

The sect founded by Swedenborg may be denominated 
the predecessors of the Spiritualists of the present day, 
though they greatly differ in many respects. They be- 
lieve in communication with spirits, but not through the 
agency or medium of material substances, and such things 
as audible knockings. Swedenborg represented himself 
as the chosen herald of the second coming of Christ, not 
as the judge of the world, but as the revealer of new doc- 
trinal truth, and of the practical results which those truths 
would produce upon mankind. It is in executing this 
commission that he was favored, as he thought, with fre- 
quent revelations from Heaven, and with intercourse with 
departed spirits, who communicated to him what he after- 
ward revealed and taught to others. It is evident, from 
his whole history, that he himself was sincere, and was 
governed by no motive of a selfish or mercenary character 
in his conduct. He was rich, and did not seek profit. 
He was unambitious, and did not desire fame. He was 
unobtrusive and retiring, and shrank from the dignities 
and honors of this world. We must therefore infer that a 
desire to utter what he believed to be the truth, was his 
Bole motive in proclaiming a new set of doctrines, which 
greatly astonished and startled his cotemporaries and all 
those who have since studied and examined them. 

Communication with the spirit-world is the fundamental 
idea of the system of Swedenborg. By this means h( 



HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIOXS. 47 

professed to receive his religious opinions ; and the proofs 
which exist to show that he really obtained superhuman 
intelligence, are certainly remarkable. This intelligence 
was not confined to religious matters, but extended also 
to temporal and worldly affairs, which were, from their 
very nature, palpable and unanswerable proofs that there 
was something extraordinary in the man, which rendered 
him different from other human beings around him. In 
proof of this, we will narrate several of the events of this 
character which occurred, and which are authenticated and 
established beyond the possibility of a doubt. 

In September, 1756, Swedenborg paid a visit to Goth- 
enburg, and was the guest of one William Castel. Fifteen 
other persons were invited to dinner. About ten o'clock 
in the evening, Swedenborg left the company and with- 
drew. After a short time he returned, and seemed to be 
much agitated and alarmed. The company immediately 
perceived his state of mind, and inquired the cause of it. 
He answered that he had been informed by his spiritual 
agency that a fire had broken out in Stockholm, and was 
at that moment raging with great fury ; that the house of 
one of his friends, whom he named, was already in ashes ; 
and that the conflagration was spreading rapidly. After 
a short interval Swedenborg again retired, and returned 
with a joyful countenance, with the intelligence that the 
fire was then extinguished at the third door from his own 
residence. The news of this reported conflagration rapidly 
spread through Gothenburg, which is three hundred miles 
distant from Stockholm. The governor of the city sent 
for Swedenborg, and questioned him on the subject. He 
described the fire with great minuteness, how it began, how 
far it had extended, how it was suppressed, and some of the 
incidents connected with its progress. A messenger had 
been dispatched from Gothenburg to Stockholm to ascer- 
tain the truth or falsehood of the seer's revelation ; and at 
the earliest possible time, on the succeeding Monday, he 
returned, bringing the most full and complete confirmation 
of all the statements of Swedenborg, which were further 



48 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

established by the royal courier, who soon after arrived at 
Gothenburg. 

Another well attested and equally remarkable incident 
is as follows : Madam Hartville, the widow of the Dutch 
Plenipotentiary at Stockholm, was requested, a short time 
after her husband's death, to pay a certain goldsmith for 
a set of silver plate which her husband had purchased. 
The widow had good reason to believe that the bill had 
been paid during the lifetime of her husband, yet she was 
unable to discover any receipt or memorandum to that 
eiFect among his carefully-arranged papers. She was in 
great perplexity, as the sum in question was large ; and at 
length a friend suggested to her that Swedenborg, whose 
alleged intercourse with spirits was a matter of general 
fame, should be consulted on the subject. She visited him 
and requested his aid. He promised to serve her ; and 
three days afterward he called upon her, and informed her 
that he had conversed with her deceased husband. He 
further stated that the debt had been paid seven months 
before his death, and that the receipt had been put in a 
bureau in a certain apartment of her house. She replied 
that this bureau had already been thoroughly searched, 
and in vain. Swedenborg answered that the spirit had in- 
formed him, that the receipt would be found in a secret 
drawer in the left side of the bureau in question, which 
was hidden by the ordinary drawer, which must first be 
removed ; and that, in that secret place, other important 
papers, connected with her husband's official correspon- 
dence, would also be found. An examination was imme- 
diately made in accordance with this direction, and the 
lost papers were discovered precisely as Swedenborg had 
designated. 

The truth of these incidents is supported by unanswer- 
able evidence ; and many others, of similar character, am' 
great clearness, occurre'U during Swedenborg's lifetime 
Jt becomes a matter of interest to inquire what were the 
doctrines taught by a man whose spiritual insight se-oms 
to have been so remarkable ; for all the opinions which he 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 49 

taught he professed to have received from the same super- 
natural and infallible mode of instruction. 

Swedenborg did not believe, nor do his followers now 
believe, that " all the tracts bound up in the Bible" are 
necessarily inspired. They exclude from the inspired 
books all the Epistles of the New Testament, yet they 
read and receive tliem as writings of great interest and 
value. Some of the sacred books they think contain 
an internal sense, having been written according to the 
^'Science of Correspondences." Of this character is the 
book of Job. The Swedenborgians also believe in a 
Trinity ; but it is not the Trinity of the Orthodox sects. 
It is not a Trinity of Persons^ but it resembles that Trin- 
ity which exists in man, who was created in the image of 
God. In man there are the body, the soul or intellectual 
essence, and the mode of operation. So Swedenborgians 
say there is one Grod possessing a trinity of relations ; the 
Father is the spirit, the Son is the bodily form, the Holy 
Ghost is the form of operation. They do not believe that 
Christ is eternal as the Son of Grod ; but that his Son- 
ship only belongs to his nature, as it was born and ex- 
isted in this world. Say they : Physiologists know that a 
child receives his soul from his father, and his body from 
his mother. Hence, as Christ had no human father, he 
had nothing corresponding with a human soul, but was 
animated directly and only by a divine nature. 

Regeneration they believe to be merely the restoration 
of the disarranged harmony of the soul, and bringing it 
back to its original resemblance of the nature of God. 
The object of the existence of the Christian Church in the 
world is simply to aid in the accomplishment of this re- 
sult. They do not regard the death of the body as a ca- 
lamity or curse, but as a natural stage in the progress of 
human beings, which puts an end to their probationary 
state, and separates the soul from its material companion. 
Immediately after death the spirit assumes a spiritual 
lody in place of the material body it has left behind. At 
death men enter an intermediate state, in which their real 
4 



50 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

character is developed, according to the preponderance of 
its moral tendencies. Those who possess a greater degree 
of good than of evil qualities will be so developed and im- 
proved as to become perfect, and be ultimately admitted 
to Heaven. Those in wh(Mn the evil is the greater, get 
worse and worse, till they are consigned to endless perdition. 
Swedenborgians deny the doctrine of election and re- 
probation, and believe that God has left salvation free to 
all, and that all have an equal chance of attaining Hea- 
ven. Salvation, according to Swedenborg, is not salva- 
tion from punishment, but salvation from sinfulness. Those 
who attain Heaven associate hereafter with angels, and in 
their associations and spiritual employments the happiness 
of Heaven consists. The wicked who finally enter endless 
perdition become devils, or wicked angels, just as the re- 
deemed finally become good angels in Heaven. None en- 
ter the other world entirely good, or entirely bad ; yet 
there is no repentance or reformation possible after death. 
The final change and permanent situation of mankind in 
the next world is accomplished by degrees ; and during 
its progress th j departed are neither in Heaven nor Hell, 
but in the " world of spirits," which enables them to have 
intercourse, under certain restrictions, with human beings 
in this world. They believe that there is a resurrection 
after death, which is not the resurrection of the natural 
or material body, but of the spiritual body from the nat- 
ural. This resurrection, they think, generally takes place 
on the third day after death, when the flesh becomes rigid 
and putrefaction commences. They base this opinion on 
the declaration of Saint Paul, that " there is a natural 
lody and there is a spiritual hodyJ' When the spiritual 
body rises from the material, it possesses spiritual organs ; 
and so all the things which exist naturally in the natural 
world, exist spiritually in the spiritual world. Thus the 
spiritual world is in fact a perfect counterpart of the nat- 
ural or material world. There, spiritual things alfoet the 
spiritual organs of men, as natural things afiect their nat- 
ural organs in this w«rld. Hence Swedenborg was of 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 51 

opinion that many persons who die, on their first awaken- 
ing in the other world, do not know that they are in that 
workh But those who have their spiritual senses opened 
in this life, as was the case with him, are already able to 
see the spiritual persons and things of the other world, 
and hold communication with them, as he himself pretended 
to do. The resemblance between the things of the other 
world to those of this, is the foundation of that doctrine 
of ^* Correspondences," which is one of the leading prin- 
ciples of the system of Swedenborg. He also taught 
that every person carried into the future world his own 
future condition, his own heaven or hell, in the moral quali- 
ties which he possessed. 

Swedenborg was a voluminous author, and it is the labor 
of a lifetime to become thoroughly acquainted with the 
mysterious and extraordinary doctrines which he taught, 
and to develope them to their full and legitimate extent. 
In consequence of the abstruseness of his system, his fol- 
lowers have never been numerous. Their form of worship 
is simple and devoid of ostentation ; hence it has little 
whereby to attract the superficial and shallow. The lead- 
ing man in the denomination in this country is Professor 
George Bush, the Biblical commentator. They have a 
few churches scattered throughout the Eastern and Middle 
States, and the aggregate number of their members in 
this country is about ten thousand. They are usually 
classed among the un-orthodox sects, in consequence of 
their views on the subject of the Trinity. 

HICKSITE QUAKERS. 

In the year 1827, a great schism occurred in the Qua- 
ker community in the United States. This event was 
brought about by the activity and the preaching of the 
celebrated Elias Hicks, who at that time succeeded in ac- 
complishing a result to which the labors of several prece- 
ding years had been devoted. Hicks was a man of supe- 
rior ability, a good speaker, and a reasoner of great logi- 



52 HISTOr Y OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

cal acumen and power. The tendency of his mind was 
toward freedom and progress in religious belief; and having 
become dissatisfied with some of the cardinal doctrines 
which were held by the old Quakers, he commenced to in- 
vestigate, to free himself from old trammels, to adopt new 
conclusions, and to preach them in the various assemblages 
of the Quakers which he attended. 

The consequence of this course of conduct was that, 
while on the one hand, he made adherents and converts 
to his views, he excited the hostility and opposition of the 
rest, and thus two parties were gradually formed in many 
of the meetings or congregations throughout the Middle 
and Northern States. In April, 1827, the controversy 
came to an open and public separation. Various disputes 
subsequently arose from time to time between the two 
parties, some of which referred to doctrine, but more to 
the possession of the property which belonged to the Qua- 
ker commmunity. The Hicksites, regarding themselves 
as the real Quakers, demanded possession of the meeting- 
houses and graveyards of the sect — a requisition which 
was resisted with great earnestness by the old Orthodox 
Priends. 

In the progress of time these disputes were settled in 
various ways ; in some instances the Hicksite, and in others 
the Orthodox Quakers obtaining the victory. The new 
sect established meetings of their own in Pennsylvania, 
New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Maryland. Their dress, 
language, church government, and usages are the same as 
those of the opposite party, of which we will speak in an- 
other article. In point of numbers, the Hicksites in this 
country are about equal to the Orthodox, though in Eng- 
land the former are very few, and their existence there is 
scarcely known. In this country the Hicksites or Pro- 
gressive Friends are not inferior to the other party in in- 
telligence, wealth, and social influence ; though, in conse- 
quence of their peculiar doctrines, they are looked down 
upon by the various Orthodox sects with dislike and aver- 
sion, and are classed by them among the condemned and 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 53 

anathematized communities, such as Unitarians, Univer- 
salists, and Swedenborgians. 

The doctrinal peculiarities of the Hicksites are as fol- 
lows : They assert that there is a tendency to progress and 
development in true Christianity, according to the teach- 
ing in Mark iv. 28 : " There is first the blade, then the 
ear, after that the full corn in the ear." In following out 
this principle, they contend that they have arrived at the 
belief tha^t the light of Christ, and of religious truth, is 
within them ; that Christianity is wholly spiritual, the per- 
fect ante-type of the visible, legal dispensation of the Old 
Testament ; that under the gospel, the temple, the altar, 
the sacrifices, the water, the fire, and the entire worship, 
are spiritual, which require neither priest, nor book, nor 
ritual, nor outward ceremonies of any kind to render them 
efficacious and salutary. In a word, they carry out the 
doctrine of the entire spirituality of the gospel dispensa- 
tion, to its utmost possible development. 

The Hicksites also deny the doctrine of the Trinity. 
On this point they difier essentially from the Orthodox 
Quakers, who have been believers of the Trinity from the 
the first. Hicks argued with great earnestness and force 
against the doctrine, and his opinion on this subject was 
one of the chief grounds of the separation which occurred. 
He also denied the doctrine of satisfaction, or a vicarious 
atonement, and held that such a thing as " imputed right- 
eousness" did not exist. On both these fundamental 
points of orthodoxy the Hicksites are heterodox, and en- 
tirely alienated from other Quakers. They are not much 
more orthodox in their opinions respecting the inspiration 
of the Scriptures. They believe that these are profitable 
for doctrine and reproof, yet that they are an emanation 
only from the fountain of truth, not that fountain itself; 
that they are a dead letter unless accompanied by the light 
and influence of the inward monitor and the divine Spirit, 
and that their entire usefulness depends on the existence 
of the divine Spirit within the mind of the reader when 
perusing their contents. 



54 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

As to divine worship^ the Hicksites believe that to wor- 
ship God in a formal manner, with regular and established 
ceremonies, is an abomination ; and, like the Orthodox 
Quakers, they have frequently silent meetings, where no 
thing is either said or done. They have no singing cr 
other outward worship, and they hold a hireling and mer- 
cenary ministry in greater abhorrence and disgust, if pos- 
sible, than the Orthodox. The discipline which governs 
the community is the same in form as that of the other 
branch of the Quakers, consisting of monthly, quarterly, 
and yearly meetings. They marry, and are given in mar- 
riage, and bury, like other Quakers. They have Yearly 
Meetings in Philadelphia, New York, Genessee, Baltimore, 
Ohio, and Indiana ; though like the other branch of the 
Quakers, they do not increase, but rather diminish in 
numbers with the progress of time. There is nothing in 
their system of worship or discipline which is adapted to 
win proselytes ; and the energy and zeal of other sects are 
constantly attracting the young of both sexes to their 
more impressive or more edifying modes of worship and of 
association. It is the fashion of the orthodox religious 
sects to stigmatize the Hicksites as nothing better than 
outright infidels. This charge is very unjust and erroneous. 

ORTHODOX CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

The Orthodox Congregationalists constitute one of the 
most numerous and important sects in this country. They 
predominate throughout New England, and are identified 
with much that is excellent in New England intelligence, 
enterprise, wealth, and influence. The general principle 
which designates this sect in opposition to all others is, 
that they believe in the entire independence of each 
church or congregation of all other congregations ; that 
each society is a complete whole within itself ; and that no 
association or connection with any other church is neces- 
sary to constitute a community truly organized according 
to the apostolic model. 



HxSTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 55 

The first Congregational Church of which we have any 
record was one which was organized in England, by one 
Robert Browne, in 1583. His followers were first called 
"Brownists," from their leader; but, as their views were 
greatly abhorrent to the members of the English estab- 
lishment, which was at that time flourishing under the 
royal favor of Elizabeth, they were immediately visited 
with persecution and broken up. Browne and a few fol- 
lowers escaped to Holland, and there organized another 
church in accordance with their views. After some years 
Browne returned to England, renounced his religious 
opinions and connections, and became, as his enemies said, 
openly immoral. Yet, in spite of his own apostasy, the 
doctrine which he had preached gradually acquired favor 
in England and about the time of the accession of James 
I. they numbered twenty thousand. At that period more 
stringent laws against dissenters were passed by that 
w^eak monarch, and the Brownists were compelled to flee, 
to escape the rod of persecution. Among their number 
was John Robinson, a man who afterwards became famous 
among them. He led another colony of his brethren over 
to Holland, and founded a Congregational Church at Am- 
sterdam. Ten years elapsed, and, for various reasons, 
Robinson and his friends — prominent among whom were 
Elder Brewster, Bradford Carver, and Winslow — resolved 
to seek a freer home in America. It was about the year 
1620, that they were able to execute their purpose ; and 
the first feeble colony of exiles, after traversing the wide 
and stormy ocean, reached the memorable rock of Plymouth. 
In 1829 an additional colony was formed at Salem. Elder 
Brewster was the first pastor of the Plymouth church, 
and from that church colonists went forth from time to 
time, which established other societies based on the same 
principles of ecclesiastical government. Such were the 
churches at Marshfield, Duxbury, and Charlestown. 

The principles on which New England Congregational- 
ism was founded are as follows : — 1. That no Christian 
church ought to contain more members than can conveni* 



56 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

ently worship in one building. 2. That the true test of 
membership in a Christian church is belief in Christ and 
obedience to his precepts. 3. That any number of such 
persons have the right to constitute themselves into a 
separate church, and that such an organization will pos- 
sess every necessary element of validity. 4. That, having 
thus associated themselves together, they have the right 
to elect their own officers and invest them with legitimate 
functions. 5. That these officers are of three orders — 
pastors or teaching elders, ruling elders, and deacons. 
6. That elders being chosen, derive all their authority 
from the members, and depend for its continuance on their 
will and pleasure. 7. That all elders and all churches 
are equal in the extent of their powers and privileges. 
8. That the sacraments of the church are two — Baptism, 
which is to be administered both to infants and adults, by 
sprinkling, and the Lord's Supper, which is to be received 
sitting at the table. 9. That Christians should not ob- 
serve any holydays except the Sabbath, though they 
might have occasional days for fasting and thanksgiving. 
10. That the functions of the ministry and the rights to 
preach may be validly bestowed upon any person chosen 
for that purpose by the members and officers of any Chris- 
tian church ; that no clerical succession of any kind is 
necessary for that purpose ; that the ceremony of ordina- 
tion does not in itself confer the functions of the ministry, 
but that it is merely a recognition of the existence of those 
functions, which are, in fact, already and solely conferred 
on the preacher by his election by any Christian society 
as their pastor. 11. That each congregation is totally in- 
dependent, in all respects, both as regards its spiritual 
and temporal affairs, of all other Christian churches. 

The history of Congregationalism is closely identified 
with the history of New England. It extended more and 
more widely as the country became more thickly settled. 
In 1638, Harvard University was founded at Cambridge. 
In 1646, common schools were established by law in 
Massachusetts. In 1648, the Cambridge Platform was 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 57 

adopted by an assemblage of Congregational ministers, 
wbich set forth what is usually known as the Calvinistic 
system of theology. At that time the number of churches 
of this sect in Massachusetts was thirty-nine ; in Connec- 
ticut, four ; in New Hampshire, three. The Quakers first 
made their appearance in Massachusetts in 1656. They 
were two women, who had fled thither from Barbadoes, 
hoping to find religious toleration and freedom in the land 
of the Pilgrims. They were cruelly disappointed, were 
arrested and imprisoned for witchcraft, and afterwards 
sent back to Barbadoes. Others arrived, three of whom 
were subsequently punished with death, though their only 
ofi'ence was their religious opinions. 

In 1708, in consequence of various disputes on religious 
subjects which had, from time to time, agitated the reli- 
gious community, an assemblage of ministers and elders 
convened at Saybrook, in Connecticut, who eventually 
adopted a confession of faith, which is generally known as 
the " Saybrook Platform," and is a symbol of great 
authority and importance among Congregationalists. It 
difiers from the Cambridge Platform in its teachings in 
reference to church government and discipline, and the 
desirableness of having ecclesiastical councils and associa- 
tions, though the doctrinal opinions set forth are the same. 
In regard to the matter of associations, the modern Con- 
gregationalists believe that it is useful for neighboring 
churches to send their ministers and elders occasionally to 
a meeting for the purpose of consultation and religious ex- 
ercises, and for the purpose of giving advice in reference 
to doubtful and dijficult matters of doctrine or discipline 
which may be submitted to their examination and discus- 
sion ; but these associations never possess any but mere 
advisory power, and the independence and supremacy of 
each separate congregation is carefully maintained. It is 
also the custom now for the candidates for the ministry to 
be examined and ordained by these associations ; whereas 
the custom formerly was, as we have said, for each con- 
gregation to ordain its own minister. 



68 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

An important event in the history of New England Con- 
gregationalism was the appearance of Unitarianism among 
some of its most eminent clergymen. This event first oc- 
curred in 1760. In 1785 several churches in Boston 
openly avowed their Unitarian sentiments. Soon after 
Harvard University passed under the control of the new 
sect, and from that time till the present the progress of 
Unitarianism has been constant. The latter are also 
Congregationalists in their form of church government ; 
and hence it is that the Congregationalists are frequently 
designated at the present time by the single epithet of 
" Orthodox." Most of the chief colleges of New Eng- 
land — such as Yale, Dartmouth, and Amherst, and the best 
theological seminaries, such as those of Andover and 
Bangor — are under their control, and hold a high place 
among the literary institutions of the country. The Con- 
gregationalists at the present time number about sixteen 
hundred churches, about fifteen hundred ministers, and 
three hundred thousand communicants. Among their most 
eminent men have been Drs. Cotton Mather, Emmons, 
Edward Griffin, Leonard Woods, N. W. Taylor, and Moses 
Stuart. 



ORTHODOX FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS. 

This remarkable sect had its origin in England, about 
the middle of the seventeenth century. As is well known, 
their head and founder was George Fox, who was born in 
1624, at Drayton in Leicestershire. He was the son of a 
weaver, a pious member of the Episcopal or Established 
Church. Fox, who seems to have been by nature of a devout 
turn of mind, received a religious education. His disposi- 
tion towards solemnity and gloom appears to have been 
confirmed by the occupation of a grazier, to which he was 
consigned at an early age. While tending his sheep in 
solitude and silence, his thoughts dwelt upon the state of 
religion around him. He came to the conclusion that 
worldliness, formality, and vanity were the chief charac- 




William Penn. — Page 58. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 59 

teristics of the prevalent religion ; and at the age of nine- 
teen he felt convinced that he had received a divine com- 
mand to separate and exclude himself from the wicked 
world, and devote his time to spiritual exercises. Accord- 
ingly, during five years he led a wandering, unsettled, and 
lonely life. At the end of this period, he began to preach 
his peculiar doctrines. He first held forth at Manchester, 
in 1648, and so great was his zeal and earnestness, that 
he soon acquired many converts and adherents. The 
name by which they proposed to be known was that of 
*' Friends, "a term taken from the third Epistle of St. John, 
i. 14: *' Our friends salute thee^' &c. But at Derby the 
epithet of " Quakers" was first applied to them, by way 
of contempt, on account of the fact that their voices in 
speaking were very tremulous, and because they shook 
and quaked prodigiously in their meetings, in consequence 
of their religious terrors and conscientious fears. 

Persecution became the portion of Fox and his follow • 
ers, from the commencement of their career. This was 
especially the case during the reign of Charles the Second, 
when licentiousness and folly reached an unparalleled ex- 
tent in England. When James the Second ascended the 
throne, the severe laws against dissenters were relaxed, 
and the Quakers were protected from the penalties which 
they had previously suffered from their refusal to take an 
oath in judicial proceedings ; their simple afiirmation, in- 
stead of it, was received ; and a plan was adopted by which 
the levying of tithes was reconciled to their peculiar scru- 
ples. Fox continued to labor with great zeal during his 
whole life. He traveled twice to the continent, and once 
he visited America. In 1655, meetings of his disciples 
were held in Holland and several other countries, and at 
the time of his death his sect was a well known and highly 
respectable body. 

Among the converts whom Fox had made, and whose 
personal qualities added distinction to his society, were 
Robert Barclay and William Penn. The former wrote the 
celebrated work entitled "An Apology for the Quakers." 



60 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Penn was more distinguished by his achievments as a 
politician and founder of the colony of Pennsylvania. 
Penn was born in London in 1644. He was of an opulent 
and distinguished family. Being sent to Oxford Univer- 
sity, he was converted to Quakerism by happening to at- 
tend a sermon by one Thomas Lee, a zealous and able 
preacher of that faith. Soon afterward he was expelled 
from the University in consequence of his religious views. 
He was also discarded by his father, because he refused 
to take off his hat before the king and him. In 1668, 
Penn boldly came forth as a Quaker preacher, and soon 
after he was sent as a prisoner to the Tower, where he re- 
mained in confinement seven months. 

An important event in the external progress of the 
Quakers was the establishment by Penn of the colony 
which still bears his name. Charles II. was indebted to 
the father of Penn, in a considerable sum of money ; and 
this he paid ofi" by granting to Penn the right and title to 
an immense tract of land in North America, then called 
New Netherlands. This territory Penn proposed to settle 
with colonists of his own religious belief. He drew up the 
constitution of his proposed colony, containing twenty-four " 
articles, which, while they granted perfect religious liberty 
to all, embodied the spirit and principles of his own belief. 
In 1682, Penn first visited the province. He remained 
two years and then returned to England. Subsequently 
he returned to Pennsylvania, and resided for forty years 
in the colony which he had founded, his head-quarters 
hemg at Philadelphia, the capital of the new State. Du- 
ring this long period he nurtured the community around 
him with wise laws, and admirable regulations of all 
kinds. He lived in peace and friendship with the Indians ; 
and Philadelphia prospered in an eminent degree. At 
that time nearly all the inhabitants were Quakers. In 
1710, Penn returned to England, where he died July, 
1718. Beside being the founder of one of the most re- 
markable and flourishing colonies which ever existed, Penn 
was an eminent Christian, a voluminous writer, and an in- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 61 

fluentia] statesman. Among the works whicli he wrote, 
were ''The Sandy Fountain Shaken," " Innocencj with 
Her Open Face," &c. The Society of Friends are greatly 
indebted to him for the favorable influence in their behalf 
which he exerted in England, as well as in the colony of 
Pennsylvania. Notwithstanding the recent attack of the 
historian, Macaulay, on the character and conduct of Penn, 
it IS true beyond cavil that he was a wise, benevolent, and 
pious man. 

The docTtrines for which the Quakers contended through 
many persecutions, and which the '' Orthodox" portion of 
them still genei-ally entertain, are as follows : That God 
has given to all men sufficient internal light, by which they 
can, if they will, attain their salvation ; that this light is 
as universal as the diiSfusion of sin ; and is capable of 
leading all who have not the outward means of salvation, 
to a saving knowledge of the truth. They believe that 
God condemns none but such as refuse the means of salva- 
tion which have been offered to them. 

They hold that the Scriptures are not the principal 
source of religious truth and knowledge, nor the primary 
rule of faith and conduct, yet that they are useful as far 
as they go. The chief source of spiritual instruction is 
the Holy Spirit, and the law of the spirit of truth which 
is engraven on the hearts of men ; in other words, their 
coiasciences — which is the inner light. Nor do they be- 
lieve that immediate revelations from God to men have 
ceased ; but that a measure or portion of the Spirit of 
God is given to every one, at this day and till the end of 
time. They believe that as all spiritual knowledge comes 
directly from God, those who have a gift of preaching 
ought to preach ; that they ought always to obey the im- 
pulse of the Spirit to that effect ; and as women are as 
much the recipients of the Holy Ghost as others, they 
ehoul" also preach as well as men. They refer for proof 
of the truth of this doctrine to the fact that St. Paul 
speaks of women who had labored with him in the gospel ; 
and that Philip had four daughters who prophesied. 



62 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Hence female preachers hold a prominent place in the 
public services of this sect ; and they gratify their uncon- 
querable dispositions to talky as well in public as in pri- 
vate ; — and generally their preaching has more intelli- 
gence and point in it than the preaching of the male 
Quakers. 

They believe that all external ordinances and ceremonies, 
including Baptism and the Lord's Supper, should not now 
be observed by Christians ; that they were only enjoined 
for a time ; that they should be observed or commemora- 
ted only spiritually ; that the baptism which should be ap- 
plied is the baptism of the Spirit, of which John's baptism 
was a mere figure ; and that the breaking of bread should 
not actually be repeated any more than the washing of 
the disciples' feet, or the anointing the sick with oil. This 
they hold, because, as the gospel dispensation was purely 
a spiritual institution, the external and visible observance 
of these or any other ceremonies is useless and inconsis- 
tent. 

The Orthodox Quakers believe in the Trinity, the vica- 
rious atonement of Christ, the constant presence of the 
Holy Spirit in the hearts of true believers, the fall of' 
Adam, man's depravity and utter inability to save him- 
self without the aid and inspiration of the Holy Spirit ; 
and that men are justified, not by their own righteousness, 
but by the righteousness and the mediation of Christ. 
They believe in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, 
and are fiercely opposed to a "hireling ministry." The 
latter personage is the object of their special hostility ; 
and they regard those as little better than wolves and 
robbers who preach for money, and who generally govern 
their choice of a field of labor, as they say, in accordance 
with the greater or the less amount of salary which they can 
procure. In support of this doctrine they quote the lan- 
guage of Christ : " Freely ye have received, freely give ;'' 
taking no account whatever of that other Scripture which 
saith, " The laborer is worthy of his hire :" ''He that aiin- 
istereth at the altar should live of the altar." 



HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 63 

The moral principles and maxims of the Quakers are 
those which are the most peculiar and singular. They re- 
gard it as wrong to use the ordinary terms of courtesy 
which are prevalent around them, such as "your honor," 
" your lordship," " esquire," nor do they ever pay formal 
compliments of any kind. They refuse to kneel or pros- 
trate themselves to any human being, or even to bow the 
body or uncover the head. They condemn all superfluity 
or show in apparel, in the furniture of their houses, or in 
anything else. They forbid indulgence in all games and 
sports, all amusements and recreations, as being inconsis- 
tent with religious gravity ; and they think that even jest- 
ing and vain talking are pernicious to the soul and par- 
take too much of the spirit of the world. Yet wealth, 
the great pursuit of the world, they grasp at as eagerly 
as any one ; and when they cheat one another, and are 
told of it, they excuse it by saying, " Friend, I merely 
outwitted thee." They think it unlawful to take an 
oath in courts of justice, to engage in war or conflicts of 
any kind, or to resist evil in any way. They are great 
opponents of slavery, and are more radical and extreme 
in their condemnation of this peculiar institution than any 
other Christian sect. Their religious assemblies are fre- 
quently what are termed "silent meetings." Unless the 
Holy Spirit directly move them, or any of them, to speak, 
they keep quiet and say nothing. Yet it is presumed that, 
during this interval, they are doing a good deal of think- 
ing. They inculcate charity and benevolence toward all 
men ; and as regards the members at least of their own 
community, they practice what they teach ; for they gen- 
erally help those who are in want, and relieve them from 
the miseries and inconveniences of poverty. 

The Society of Friends is governed and regulated by a 
system which is different from that of any other denomi- 
nation. They have a discipline which consists of four 
iiTerent grades of assemblies ; the least and lowest are 
those which are called Preparative Meetings, where the 
matters of business which require the attention and action 



64 HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 

of the members of the society, are first proposed and ar 
ranged. These affairs are then referred to the second 
assembly, called the Monthly Meetings, which are com- 
posed of several Preparative Meetings, and have higher 
executive authority. The decisions of the Monthly Meet- 
ings are then referred to the Quarterly, composed of several 
Monthly Meetings, which have higher jurisdiction still. 
After these have made their decisions, they are referred 
to the Yearly Meeting, which includes a large number of 
Quarterly Meetings, which examines into the condition 
and interests of the whole body, and pronounces its final 
determination, from which there is no appeal. Moral dis- 
cipline among the members is administered through the 
agency of "overseers," who keep an eye on their conduct, 
admonish the delinquent, and who report any improper 
conduct first to the Preparative Meeting, and also, if 
thought necessary, to the other higher meetings successively. 

The principal Yearly Meetings belonging to the Ortho- 
dox Quakers are those which convene in London for Eng- 
land; in Dublin for Ireland; in Newport for Rhode 
Island and New England; in New York city for that 
State ; that for Pennsylvania and New Jersey is held in 
Philadelphia ; in Baltimore for Maryland and others ; for 
Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Indiana, in those 
"States respectively. These various assemblies represent a 
body of actual members, who number about a hundred and 
forty thousand persons, which is a smaller aggregate than 
that which existed twenty-five years ago. 

According to the views of Quakers, their children in- 
nerit naturally a birthright and membership in the church, 
and no ceremony or rite is used for the purpose of initia- 
ting them into the connection. This birthright they retain 
through life, unless they forfeit it by some act of immo- 
rality, or some violation of the disciplinary regulations of 
the sect. Marriages are all celebrated or enacted among 
their members in public meeting, without much circumlo- 
cution or ceremony, each party merely declaring that they 
accept the other as a husband or wife. This usage com- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGHONS. 65 

ports with the idea of tlie marriage relation wMcli the 
Courts of Pennsylvania have decided to he the only legal 
one, namely, that marriage is simply a civil contract, and 
need not, to be valid, be invested with any ecclesiastical 
or clerical sanction. 

It is somewhat singular that, while the Quakers con- 
<!emn all kinds of established forms in religion, they them- 
selves are the most rigid formalists in the world ; for they 
go so far as to display a peculiar formality in their dress, 
in their mode of living, and even in their speech. This 
inconsistency results from the fact that, after all, it is im- 
possible for any assemblage or society of persons to re- 
main associated together, without some distinctive features 
and badges of identity and resemblance. But Quakers, 
in yielding to this law of our nature, adopt a formalism in 
regard to such things as render them objects of ridicule to 
the worldly portion of the community, and impede their 
increase and their usefulness. 



ARMINIANS. 

The Arminians are those who hold the tenets of Armin- 
ius, a Protestant divine, born in Holland in the year 1560, 
and latterly a professor of divinity at Leyden. 

Thinking the doctrines of Calvin in regard to free will, 
predestination, and grace, contrary to the beneficent per- 
fections of the Deity, Arminius began to express his doubts 
concerning them in the year 1591 ; and upon further in- 
quiry, adopted sentiments more nearly resembling those of 
the Lutherans than of the Calvinists. After his appoint- 
ment to the theological chair at Leyden, he thought it his 
duty to avow and vindicate the principles which he had 
embraced ; and the freedom with which he published and 
defended them, exposed him to the resentment of those 
that adhered to the theological system of Geneva. 

His tenets included the five following propositions : First, 
That God has not fixed the future state of mankind by an 
absolute, unconditional decree, but determined, from all 
5 



66 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

eternity, to bestow salvation on those who, lie foresaw, 
would persevere to the end in their faith in Jesus Christ, 
and to inflict punishment on those who should continue in 
their unbelief, and resist to the end his divine assistance. 
Secondly^ That Jesus Christ, by his death and sufferings, 
made an atonement for all mankind in general, and for 
every individual in particular: that, however, none but 
those who believe in him, can be partakers of this divine 
benefit. Thirdly^ That mankind are not totally depraved, 
and that depravity does not come upon them by virtue of 
Adam's being their public head, but that mortality and ac- 
tual evil only are the direct consequences of his sin to 
posterity. Fourthly^ That there is no such thing as irre- 
sistible grace in the conversion of sinners. And Fifthly^ 
That those who are united to Christ by faith may fall from 
their faith, and forfeit finally their state of grace. 

Thus the followers of Arminius believe that God, hav- 
ing an equal regard for all his creatures, sent his Son to 
die for the sins of the whole world ; that men have the 
power of doing the will of God, otherwise they are not 
the proper subjects of approbation and condemnation ; and 
that, in the present imperfect state, believers, if not par- 
ticularly vigilant, may through the force of temptation, 
fall from grace, and smk into final perdition. 

The Arminians found their sentiments on the expres- 
sions of our Saviour respecting his willingness to save all 
that come unto him ; especially on his prayer over Jerusa- 
lem, his sermon on the mount, and above all, on his delinea- 
tion of the process of the last day, where the salvation of 
men is not said to have been procured by any decree, but 
because they had done the will of the Father, who is in 
Heaven. This last argument they deem decisive ; because 
it cannot be supposed that Jesus, in the account of the 
judgment day, would have deceived them. They also say 
that the terms used in the Romans respecting election, are 
applicable only to the Jews as a body, without reference 
to the religious condition of individuals, either in the pre^ 
sent or future world. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELiaiONS. 67 

The asserters of these opinions in Holland were vehe- 
mently attacked by the Calvinistic party, which was pre- 
valent at the time ; and in 1610 the Arminians addressed 
a petition to the States of Holland for protection, from 
which fact they derived the name of Remonstrants. In the 
year 1618, nine years after the death of Arminius, the 
Synod of Dort was convened by the States General, and a 
hearing given to both parties. But the Synod was suc- 
ceeded by a shameful persecution of the Arminians. 

THE MORAYIANS, OR UNITED BRETHREN. 

Correctly speaking, the Moravians are the oldest of the 
Protestant sects, inasmuch as they are historically de- 
scended from the first dissenters from the Roman Catho- 
lic Church. They may trace their origin to John Huss, 
the Bohemian Reformer, who, together with Jerome of 
Prague, created commotions and disturbances in the Mother 
Church, in Bohemia, in the fifteenth century, and who 
were afterward burned at Constance in return for their re- 
forming zeal. The sect languished in obscurity and amid 
persecutions during several centuries, driven to and fro, 
with various and disastrous fortunes, until at length, in 
1722, they besought the protection of a German noble- 
man. Count Zinzendorf, who possessed a large estate at 
Herrnhut, in Upper Lusatia. The Count gave them a 
secure asylum ; permitted the whole community to settle 
within his jurisdiction ; and from that period the pros- 
perity and good fortune of the society take their date. 

At Herrnhut the Moravian community was organized 
upon a novel plan, which combined social features of a 
marked and peculiar character, together with religious and 
theological unity. They formed a body which they sup- 
posed resembled the primitive apostolical congregations 
They adopted as articles of faith what they regarded only 
as the fundamental and chief doctrines of Christianity ; 
while their social arrangements provided for a community 
cf goods such as is referred to in the Acts of the Apos 



68 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

ties in reference to one or two of the primitive cliurches. 
Zinzendorf seems to have been a man admirably adapted 
to the organization of the new sect ; and he devoted not 
only his time and labor, but also his wealth, to the firm estab- 
lishment of principles and arrangements on which the sect 
was based. 

The doctrinal belief of the Moravians has always been 
a very undefined and unsettled one. They have constantly 
avoided much argument or dispute on these points ; and 
the sect has maintained an ascetic aspect, which is very 
peculiar. Their distinctive features are pre-eminently of a 
moral and practical nature, and also of a social character, 
by which, indeed, they are widely distinguished from all 
other denominations. They profess to receive the Augs- 
burg Confession — the symbol of the Lutheran Church — as 
the clearest statement of their religious belief, or of the 
belief, at least, of the majority of them ; and hence, in 
the absence of any creed of their own creation, they point 
to that Confession as the one which comes nearest to their 
views. 

The chief doctrinal opinions of the Moravians may be 
defined as follows : They believe in the inspiration of the 
Scriptures, and their ample sufficiency and authority as 
the sole revelation of divine truth. They believe in the 
Trinity, and give great prominence to the history, nature, 
works, sufferings, and death of Christ. They carefully 
avoid abstruse -argument or discussion on every topic of 
theology ; and endeavor to make practical piety the prin- 
cipal aim of all their religious teachings. They hold to 
the vicarious atonement ; they reject trhe doctrine of abso- 
lute predestination ; and they believe in a future state of 
rewards and punishments. Yet few of their doctrinal 
tenets are clearly or accurately defined ; and very great 
liberty and variety of belief are allowed among them. 

The most remarkable features connected with the Mora- 
vians refer to their social arrangements, and to the 
government of their society as a church. During the ear- 
lier period of their existence as a sect, they not only 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 69 

practiced and observed a community of goods among all 
the members, but even the marriages of the young people 
were arranged in the most singular manner. They were 
not permitted to court and marry like other people, but 
their matches were disposed of hy lot. No man or woman 
knew who was to be the partner of his or her life, until 
the moment before the indissoluble union took place ; and 
we may well imagine the strange feelings which such a 
disposition of matrimonial matters would frequently pro- 
duce. Sometimes the blooming and beautiful maiden 
found herself tied to the object of her secret aversion and 
contempt ; and so also the vigorous and athletic young 
man suddenly discovered that some feeble, deformed, and 
sickly creature, of the opposite sex, had become his com- 
panion for life. A more stupid and detestable mode of 
arranging the domestic and social relations of any commu- 
nity, could not possibly be imagined ; and we think it a 
fortunate circumstance that in later ai^d present times, 
the heads and leaders of the sect have had wit enough to 
abolish so objectionable a feature of their discipline. 

Where the Moravians form separate and distinct commu^ 
nities, their mode of living also is peculiar. They banish 
from among them all amusements of a sort which, as they 
suppose, tend to produce worldliness and a neglect of the 
growth of experimental piety, such as dancing, theatres, 
balls, games of cards, and even the public promiscuous 
assemblages of their own young people. In the Moravian 
communities in Europe, the unmarried men and boys all 
reside together in buildings which are separate from the 
rest ; and the same is true also of the unmarried women 
and young girls. The dwellings of the former set are 
called the " Single Brethren's Houses ;" those of the 
latter the " Single Sisters' Houses." In th^se dwellings 
various trades and occupations are pursued, suitable to 
men and women. An elder or superintendent has abso- 
lute authority over each house, and all the inmates are 
required to be industrious and well employed. This ar- 
rangement exists in Europe in order to prevent the too 



70 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

frequent meeting of the young people of the two sexes, 
and to diminisli the disposition to early and precipitate 
marriages ; but in this country this feature of the sect has 
been relaxed, and Moravians live like other people ; asso- 
ciate with their neighbors and fellow-members ; and the 
youth of the society are permitted to approach each other 
without restraint or apprehension. In this country the 
mat^riage by lot is also abolished, and Moravians have the 
same freedom of choice which other civilized people enjoy. 
They provide for the aged unmarried women, who are 
supported in the "Widows' Houses," when they are no 
longer able to maintain themselves. These employ their 
time in ornamental needle-work, which is sold, and the 
proceeds devoted to the support of the houses in which 
they reside. This arrangement prevails even in this 
country only where the sect live together in distinct and 
isolated communities, such as at Bethlehem and Nazareth 
in this State. The young people are carefully educated, 
and the schools of the Moravians are highly esteemed. 
The chief government of the communities is conducted by 
a Board of Elders, composed of both sexes. This Board 
generally decides all differences between the members of 
the community, of every sort. The Elders do not preach, 
that office being confined entirely to the regularly ordained 
ministers. 

As a substitute for all sorts of amusement and social 
intercourse in these distinct Moravian settlements, public 
exercises are held every evening in the churches, which 
consist of reading the Scriptures, narrating accounts which 
have been received of the adventures of their absent mis- 
sionaries in various portions of the world, and sacred 
music. The last occupies a very prominent part in the 
religious services of this sect, and is the chief attraction 
connected with their religious and social organization. 
They likewise observe and celebrate the leading festivals 
of the Protestant Churches, such as Christmas, Easter, 
and Pentecost. They also have a " Love Feast" previous 
to every communion, at which the whole congregation par- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 71 

take together of coffee, or chocolate, and cakes, in tojien 
of their fraternal feeling and union. On Easter morning 
the Moravians observe a ceremony which is peculiar to 
themselves : — they meet together in the grave-yard at 
Bun-rise ; religious services accompanied with music are 
held ; and the death of all those members who have de- 
parted during the preceding year, is commemorated. 
Ihey also endeavor at all times to divest death of its 
gloomy and repulsive attributes. Like the Quakers, they 
observe no outward signs of mourning ; but unlike them 
their funeral processions proceed to the grave, accompanied 
with solemn instrumental music. Their grave-yards are 
usually laid out to resemble a garden ; and the last long 
home of the living, or rather of the dead, is invested with 
everything which coidd diminish its mournful and repul- 
sive aspects. 

When members of the Moravian communities violate 
any of the duties which devolve upon them, or are immoral, 
the elders first reprove them, and expostulate with them. 
If this process does not reform them, they are then ex- 
cluded from the Lord's Supper. If they still remain in- 
corrigible, they are then expelled entirely from the society. 
The highest dignitaries in the church are the bishops, who 
ordain the ministers or preaching elders. They have also 
the order of deacons, into which young preachers are ad- 
mitted at the commencement of their pastoral labors. 
The Moravians claim to have the unbroken apostolic suc- 
cession from the time of Christ to the present, by tracing 
its current through the Bohemian Brethren, the immediate 
disciples of John Huss. 

The most remarkable feature connected with this small 
yet respectable sect is the singular zeal which they have 
always exhibited in reference to missionary work. Pos- 
sessing very limited resources, they have been extremely 
liberal in this respect. When Count Zinzendorf died, in 
1760, after presiding over the community at Herrnhut for 
more than a quarter of a century, the whole concern was 
insolvent, although he had expended all his estates in the 



72 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

service of the denomination. Yet by subsequent thrift 
these difficulties were surmounted, and immense sums have 
since been expended in the enterprise of evangelizing the 
world. They have but six thousand members in the 
United States, of little account in a pecuniary point of 
view ; yet the same lavish expenditure for the heathen 
prevails among them here. Even in Europe their actual 
membership does not exceed fifteen thousand persons. In 
the United States the whole number of their congregations 
is twenty-three, and the number of their clergymen is 
twenty-five. They have here also two bishops, and four 
principals of schools. Their literary institutions are 
situated at Bethlehem, Nazareth, Lititz, in Pennsylvania ; 
and at Salem, in South Carolina. ' A few churches of this 
sect exist in England, and several even in Ireland. Their 
missions at present are among the negroes in the Danish 
West India Islands, at Jamaica, Barbadoes, in Surinam, 
in Greenland, in Labrador, among the Hottentots and * 
CajQfres in Southern Africa, and among the Indians of 
Upper Canada and Arkansas. 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

This prominent and active denomination of Christians 
owe their origin, as a sect, to the celebrated John Wesley. 
This remarkable man was born in the year 1703, and was 
educated at Oxford University, in England. He entered 
the Established Church, and was duly ordained a priest, 
or presbyter. At first he had little more conception of 
the true nature of religion, or the real responsibilities of 
his office, than the majority of the clergy around him, who 
were a worldly, selfish, and dissipated set of men, in gene- 
ral, who knew much more about card-playing, fox-hunting, 
and theatre-going, than they did about the truths and 
duties of Christianity. 

About the year 1729, John Wesley "became converted.'* 
He then saw what he supposed to be the horrors of the 
existing state of religion and morals in the Established 




D^a'v^^hJB..V/estaIl B A, 



igr..--:dJ:C,F.Keavi3y. 



AjBrnAM^^vM ©IflFiEIEIIM© WF MEg ^©m ISAACS, 
Genesis, Cliap. 22, Ver.nScl2. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. . 7b 

Church, and among its clergy of all ranks ; and he deter- 
mined, if possible, to effect a reformation. He proposed 
to accomplish this work, not so much among the clergy 
themselves as among the people. He discerned that the 
kind of preaching which at that time was prevalent in the 
churches was utterly useless in awakening sinners to a proper 
sense of their moral condition, and that the vast majority 
of the churches were nothing less than religious dormito- 
ries, where humdrum preachers were paid high salaries for 
putting people comfortably to sleep twice on Sundays. 
Wesley's first efibrts were made in the vicinity of Oxford, 
where he soon rendered himself very unpopular with the 
astonished and disgusted authorities and students of the 
University. He had been converted by perusing the 
writings of William Law, the well-known mystic. His 
brother, Charles Wesley, shared his religious feelings. 
The term "Methodist" was applied to them by their ene- 
mies, in consequence of their orderly and composed de- 
meanor. In 1735, among other persons who had joined 
them was George Whitefield, the celebrated pulpit orator. 
Yet a fundamental difference of opinion existed between 
Whitefield and Wesley, the former being a rigid Calvini«t, 
and the latter an Arminian ; and this difference of senti- 
ment characterized the followers of each when they sub- 
sequently became associated in sects. In 1735, the two 
Wesleys visited Georgia in order to preach to the colo- 
nists ; but no very important results followed this expedi- 
tion. 

After their return to England, the Wesleys continued 
their reforming labours in London, in 1739, and their zeal 
and success constantly attracted more of the public atten- 
tion, and increased the number of their converts. No 
preaching like theirs had ever before been heard in Eng- 
land. Their purpose was to arouse the consciences of the 
people, and convince them of the necessity of a new life 
and a regenerated nature, in order to escape future perdi- 
tion. The earnestness and sincerity with which they 
preached, produced prodigious results. Wesley established 



74 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

congregations in various portions of England. He him- 
self was a great itinerant ; and while he did not possess 
the same degree of eloquence which Whitefield displayed, 
he was equally successful in making converts. Yet he 
always claimed to be a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church ; and this fact is proved by an incident which oc- 
curred some years after he began his career as a reformer. 
There was a famous man in that day, a prominent person 
in the ranks of elegance and fashion, named ''Beau Nash," 
who, like all other dandies, was a hopeless fool. He hap- 
pened to be present when Wesley preached at Bath, 
and going up to him before the sermon, he asked him, 
"By what authority he undertook to preach?" Wesley 
replied, " By that of Jesus Christ, conveyed to me by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, when he laid hands on me and 
said, ' Take thou authority to preach the gospel.' " Nash 
replied that " he was acting contrary to the laws of the 
Church." " Did you ever hear me preach ?" said Wesley. 
"No, sir," replied Nash, "I judge of you by common re- 
port." "Well, sir," answered Wesley, "I should be 
more charitable than to form my opinion of you by com- 
mon report." This incident serves to show at once the 
severity of the preacher, the stupidity of the dandy, and 
Wesley's regard for his clerical authority, as obtained 
from the Protestant Episcopal Church, which he always 
highly valued. 

Wesley ordained the new preachers of the sect which 
he gradually organized by virtue of this authority 
Before the period of his death, in 1791, when he expired 
at the age of eighty-eight, his followers were numerous 
throughout England, though they generally belonged to 
the poorer classes of the community. His labors did a 
vast amount of good, not only among those who became 
members of his own communion, but also in the Estab- 
lished Church; for the zeal of these "Banters," as they 
were frequently called, put to shame the hypocrisy, world- 
liness, and wickedness of the Established clergy, and 
showed both them and the people who attended their ser- 



HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 75 

vices the necessity of a reform at least in external pro- 
priety ; and a few were led to sincere reformation and re- 
pentance, both of the clergy and the laity. 

The first congregation of Methodists in the United 
States was formed in the city of New York in 1766. It 
was composed of a few Irish immigrants, who had become 
converts in their native land. Among them was a local 
preacher named Embury, who preached in his own house, 
at first, to an assemblage of five persons. Very soon their 
numbers increased, and it became necessary for them to 
obtain a larger place of worship. They next hired a rig- 
ging loft in William Street in that city, and continued 
their exercises. In the progress of time they found the 
accommodations afi'orded by this house insufficient ; and 
the members, who were generally poor and obscure persons, 
petitioned the Mayor and other prominent citizens of New 
York for pecuniary assistance. This was afibrded them, 
and in 1768 the Methodists obtained a lot on John Street, 
and erected a house of worship sixty feet in length and 
forty-two in width, which they named ''Wesley Chapel." 
This was the first Methodist meeting house ever built in 
the United States, and their first sermon was delivered in 
it in October, 1768, by Mr. Embury. Immediately after- 
ward the congregation sent a request to John Wesley that 
he would send them a more competent preacher. In an- 
swer to this petition, Richard Boardman and Joseph Pill- 
more sailed for this country and commenced to labor, the 
former in New York, the latter in Philadelphia. This 
event ocurred in 1770. 

From this auspicious beginning, the growth of Method- 
ism in this country was rapid and extensive. The zeal 
of their preachers and members, the earnestness and ex- 
citement which characterized their religious exercises, their 
powerful appeals to the fears and hopes of their hearers, 
their whole system of church government and ecclesias- 
tical discipline, which were then on a small scale, pretty 
much the same as they are now, were all admirably 
adapted to impress their audiences, to influence the less 



76 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

intelligent and educated class of hearers, and to make con- 
verts among the multitude. 

In 1771, Francis Asbury and Richard Wright were sent 
out by Wesley to aid the infant sect. These persons tra- 
veled extensively throughout many of the colonies, preach- 
ing and making converts, and founding congregations. So 
successful were they, that, in 1773, there were ten travel- 
ing preacliers and more than eleven hundred members 
connected with the churches. Probably no sect ever ex- 
isted in the United States which increased in numbers as 
rapidly as the Methodist ; and the reason of this is the 
fact that their method of religious worship is eminently 
aggressive, and they use every possible means and expe- 
dients which can be devised to impress the feelings of 
their hearers. This peculiarity they very frequently car- 
ried to an absurd and pernicious extreme ; and the loud 
noises and the tumultuous disorder which sometimes char- 
acterized the public worship of the Methodists, were the 
result of a "zeal without knowledge," the evil conse- 
quences of carrying a good thing to an unjustifiable degree 
of perversion. 

At the time of the Revolution the Methodists were a 
well-known and numerous sect. After its conclusion some 
trouble occurred among them, in consequence of their 
separation from the Methodist churches in England. Pre- 
vious to the Revolution, all the Methodist preachers who 
were in this country were merely " lay preachers," and 
had no power, or authority to ordain any persons to the 
ministry. It now became necessary to adopt some means 
by which a valid commission might be obtained by the 
American churches, for the purpose of ordaining men to 
preach without being dependent upon their brethren in 
England. At first, John Wesley had some scruples as to 
his power or authority to comply with this desire, and some 
doubts as to the propriety of the measure. At length, 
however, all his doubts were removed ; and in September, 
1784, assisted by other Methodist preachers whom he had 



HISTORY OF ALL KELIGIONS. 77 

himself previously ordained, he consecrated the Rev. 
Thos. Coke, a clergyman of the Church of England, as a 
Superintendent, and ordained Richard Whatcoat and Tho- 
mas Vasey to the office of elders, and sent them to the 
United States to carry on the work. These men itiner- 
ated through the country, established many churches in 
viiricus States, and ordained many preachers as elders 
and deacons. Mr. Coke was, in fact, the Bishop of the 
church in this country, for the term '' superintendent" was 
merely another name for bishop. The question here 
arises : How could Mr. Wesley, who had only received 
priest's orders, confer orders on another, while diocesan 
bishops only possessed that right, according to the views 
of the Church of England, to which Wesley still professed 
to belong ? And, more especially, How could he, a mere 
presbyter, confer on another (Mr. Coke) the functions of 
an office which was higher than his own — those of a 
bishop ? This objection, however, was answered by as- 
serting that, in the New Testament, the functions and the 
offices of presbyters and bishops were the same ; and that 
if a man were a presbyter he was also a bishop, and could 
confer upon another the office which he himself possessed. 
Yet to this position another objection applies, which is 
that this position is contrary to the teachings of the Church 
jf England, to which Wesley professed to adhere in doc- 
trine ; and hence he should either have abandoned that 
connection, or renounced a theory which that church con- 
demned. 

Having thus obtained full authority, as they supposed, 
to ordain, and preach, and carry on a separate and inde- 
pendent organization, the Methodists of this country con- 
tinued their career with greater success than before. In 
1792, they held their first General Conference, having 
control over all the district conferences of the church. 
At that time there were two hundred and sixty-six regular 
preachers, and sixty-five thousand members, in the United 
States. New circuits had been formed in various portions 
of the country ; and annual conferences had been organized 



78 . HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

in the different States, all of whicli sent delegates to the 
General Conference. At the present time the Methodists 
have about five thousand regular and traveling preachers, 
about nine thousand local preachers, and one million 
church members, of whom about two hundred thousand 
are negroes in the Southern States. 

The government of the Methodist Church is an anomaly 
in itself, yet admirably adapted to promote the ends and 
views of the organization. They have bishops, whose 
jurisdiction extends over the whole church conjointly, and 
is not confined to any one particular State. They have 
also presbyters, or traveling and regular preachers, and 
local preachers and deacons. Their churches are divided 
into various classes, each class consisting generally of a 
dozen members. Each class is presided over by a class- 
leader. They have also stewards, who are chosen by the 
quarterly meeting conference, who have charge of all the 
moneys contributed by the members for the support of the 
preachers ; and trustees, to whom is committed the care of 
the church property. The bishops are elected by the 
General Conference. The presiding elders have control 
over the several circuits and stations which compose a dis- 
trict. The "leaders' meetings" are attended by all the 
class-leaders belonging to one church or station. The 
preachers receive but a very small yearly salary. In the 
country and towns each one is allowed a hundred dollars 
for himself, a hundred for his wife, sixteen dollars for each 
child under seven years of age, and twenty-four dollars 
for each child above that age. A further allowance is 
made for the table expenses and fuel of the preacher's 
family. In cities, where such sums would be of little ac- 
count for the support of a family, the sums allowed are 
generally much larger. The bishops receive no greater 
remuneration than the itinerant preachers. 

During the last few years the Methodist clergymen have 
been generally better educated than they were formerly, 
and they have established and conducted several literary in- 
stitutions for this purpose. They have the W'esleyan 



1 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 79 

University, located at Middletown, Connecticut ; Dickin- 
son College, at Carlisle ; Allegheny College, at Mead- 
ville ; and others of minor importance. Their most remark- 
able and valuable institution is their Book Concern, located 
in New York, which has published a vast number of reli- 
gious works and accumulated an immense capital. The 
separation which took place between the Northern and 
Southern portions of the church, in consequence of differ- 
ences on the subject of slavery, does not seem to have 
inflicted much injury on either branch. 

The doctrines of the Methodists are well known. These 
do not differ from the teachings of other orthodox sects, 
except on two fundamental points. They are strenuous 
Arminians, holding to "free grace," or the theory that 
the offers of the gospel are made to all men alike, and not 
to an elect few ; and that all may repent if they desire to 
do so. They also believe in " Christian Perfection," or 
the ability of Christians to attain such a state of holiness 
in this world that they will become entirely free and ex- 
empt from all moral turpitude. In many respects the 
Methodists are among the most zealous and useful of reli- 
gious sects. Among their most eminent preachers have 
been Adam Clarke, Bishop Soule, Drs. Bascom, Durbin, 
Maffit, and Olin. 

SAINT SIMONIANS. 

Claude Henri, Count de St. Simon, of the ancient 
family of that name, born in 1760, was engaged during 
the greater part of his life in a series of unsuccessful com- 
mercial enterprises, a traveler, and in the early portion 
of his career a soldier in America; but having dissipated a 
considerable fortune, and being unable to draw the atten- 
tion of the public to a variety of schemes, political and 
social, which he was constantly publishing, he attempted 
suicide in 1820. He lived, however, a few years longer, 
a,nd died in 1825, leaving his papers and projects to Olinde 
Rodriguez. St. Simon's views of society and the destiny 



8U HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

of mankind are contained in a variety of works, and es- 
pecially in a short treatise entitled the Nouveau Christi- 
anisme, published after his death by Rodriguez. This 
book does not contain any scheme for the foundation of a 
new religion, such as his disciples afterwards invented. 
It is a diatribe against both the Catholic and Protestant 
sects for their neglect of the main principle of Christian- 
ity, the elevation of the lower classes of society; and in- 
veighs against 'Sexploitation de I'homme par I'homme," 
the existing system of individual industry, under which 
capitalists and labourers have opposite interests and no 
common object. 

The principle of association, and equal division of the 
fruits of common labor between the members of society, 
he imagined to be the true remedy for its present evils. 
After his death these ideas were caught up by a number 
of disciples, and formed into something resembling a sys- 
tem. The new association, or St. Simonian family^ was 
chiefly framed by Rodriguez, Bazar, Thierry, Chevalier, 
and other men of talent. After the revolution of July, 
1830, it rose rapidly into notoriety, from the sympathy 
between the notions which it promulgated, and those en- 
tertained by many of the republican party. In 1831, the 
society had about 3,000 members, a newspaper called 
the Globe, and large funds. 

The vicAVS of the St. Simonian family were all directed 
to the abolition of rank and property in society, and the 
establishment of associations, of which all the members 
should work in common and divide the fruits of their labor. 
But with these notions, common to many other social re- 
formers, they united the doctrine, that the division of the 
goods of the community should be in due proportion to the 
merits or capacity of the recipient. Society was to be 
governed by a hierarchy, consisting of a supreme pontiff, 
apostles, disciples of the first, second, and third order. 

It was not until about this period (1830) that they be- 
gan to invest these opinions with the form ^nd character 
of a religion ; but shortly after having done so they went 




avrv'^VTH Presbyterian Ghorch, Philadelphia. — Page 81. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 81 

into great extravagances. There was a disunion among 
them as to the fittest person to preside over the society ; and 
consequently Messrs. Bazar and Enfantin divided, for 
some time, the duties and dignity of the " Supreme Fa- 
ther," as he was termed. But on the 19th of November, 
1831, Bazar and many others left the association, of which 
Enfantin remained the supreme father. Their doctrines 
and proceedings now became licentious and immoral to 
the last degree. On the 22d of January, 1832, the family 
was dispersed by the government. Enfantin and Rodri- 
guez were tried on various charges, and imprisoned for a 
year. The former afterwards collected again a part of 
the society at Menilmontant ; but it was dissolved for want 
of funds. Some former members of the St. Simonian as- 
sociation attained places of rank and consideration ; some 
of the most extravagant traveled to the East ; but En- 
fantin, we believe, has now no followers. 

NEW SCHOOL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The New School branch of the Presbyterian Church 
claims to be a genuine and consistent descendant of the 
Presbyterian Church as it exists in Scotland, asserting at 
the same time that the Old School are the schismatics who 
have departed from their ancient hereditary faith. Ac- 
cording to this assumption, the history of the Presbyterian 
Church in Scotland and the United States until the great 
division of 1830, will apply to the New School Church as 
well as to the Old ; and hence we may fitly continue the 
history of the former by commencing with the separation 
in question, and describe the career of the New School 
branch from that time till the present. 

Previous to the year 1830, the Rev. Albert Barnes 
was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Morristown, 
New Jersey; and while residing there he preached and 
published a sermon on '' The Way of Salvation," which 
excited remark, as it seemed to teach a theory somewhat 
different from that set forth in the '' Confession of Faith." 
6 



82 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

The matter, however, attracted but little attention until 
Mr. Barnes received a call from the First Presbyterian 
Church of Philadelphia, inviting him to assume the pasto- 
ral charge of it. The case was discussed by the Presby- 
tery of Philadelphia in April, 1830 ; and at length the 
call was admitted by that body according to Presbyterian 
usage, but accompanied by a protest against it, which was 
signed by twelve members. After Mr. Barnes' removal 
to Philadelphia, a complaint was made by the aforesaid 
twelve to the " Synod of Philadelphia," based on the pro- 
test which they had previously made, setting forth the 
fact that Mr. Barnes had been settled and received by the 
Presbytery, notwithstanding the fact that he had taught 
heretical doctrines in the sermon entitled " The Way of 
Salvation," and demanding an investigation of the case. 
The matter was fully discussed in the Synod ; after which 
the whole subject was referred back again to the Presby- 
tery. The latter debated the questions involved at great 
length ; and, after due deliberation, expressed their disap- 
proval of the doctrine defended by Mr. Barnes, and ap- 
pointed a comuittee to confer with him for the purpose 
of convincing him of his error, and bringing him back to 
a knowledge and confession of the truth. 

Mr. Barnes and his friends appealed from this decision 
to the General Assembly, in 1833. The questions in- 
volved, both of doctrine and discipline, were fully investi- 
gated by that body, who eventually reversed the proceed- 
ings of the Synod of Philadelphia, and confirmed the acts 
of the preceding year. This decision brought the dispute 
again before the Synod for final examination, and the re- 
sult was that the Synod annulled the decisions of the 
General Assembly, and dissolved the Second Presbytery 
of Philadelphia, which the Assembly had organized in ac- 
cordance with the wishes of the friends of Mr. Barnes. 
After some further attempts to compromise and arrange 
the existing difficulties, which were unsuccessful, the con- 
test was brought to a crisis by the action of the Rev 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 83 

George Junkin, a member of the Presbytery of Newton, 
who preferred a charge against Mr. Barnes in a regular 
and formal manner, before the Second Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia, to the effect that he had taught dangerous errors 
and heresies contrary to the word of Grod, in his recently 
published "Notes on the Romans." After a full investi- 
gation of the charge, with all that endless volubility of 
argument and harangue which generally characterizes the 
meetings and the proceedings of Presbyterial bodies, the 
accused was acquitted by a decisive majority. This deci- 
sion of course satisfied nobody who was of the opposite 
opinion ; and an appeal was at once taken to the Synod 
of Philadelphia, which convened in 1835. After another 
interminable outlay of speeches, the Synod reversed the 
decision of the Presbytery, and condemned it as contrary 
to truth and righteousness, while they censured Mr. Barnes' 
new doctrines as contrary to the teachings of the Presby- 
terian Church, and in opposition to the instructions of the 
word of God ; and they further suspended Mr. Barnes from 
the functions of the ministry. From this sentence Mr. 
Barnes of course appealed to the General Assembly of 
1836. 

When this body met, they were deluged with all man- 
ner of "complaints," "appeals," "protests," and "me- 
morials," having reference to this dispute. Eventually, 
after one of the most protracted and violent discussions 
known in the history of the churches in this country, the 
Assembly rescinded all the acts of the Synod of Philadel- 
phia, absolved Mr. Barnes from all censure, removed the 
sentence of suspension which had been pronounced upon 
him, and proclaimed in substance that the theories which 
he taught in his aforesaid books were in accordance with 
Scripture and the standards of the Presbyterian Church. 
This decision only increased the alienation and bitterness 
which already existed between the two parties in the 
Church, and it was evident that these troubles would not 
end there. The differences which divided the two bellige- 
rent parties may be described in brief as depending upon, 



84 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

or resulting from, the way in which they severally inter- 
preted the '' Confession of Faith," one party adhering to 
a strict interpretation, and the other a more lax and liberal 
one. Both factions now prepared themselves for a grand 
and decisive conflict in the ensuing General Assembly of 
1837. 

A week previous to the opening of the Assembly, an in- 
formal Convention of Ministers was held in Philadelphia, 
for the purpose of comparing views and discussing the 
matters in litigation. This convention sent the result of 
their deliberations to the General Assembly, immediately 
after its opening, in a document which was entitled a 
"Testimony or Memorial," and in it they condemned as 
erroneous a long list of subjects, which they supposed 
would probably come up for subsequent discussion — such 
as sixteen doctrinal errors, ten departures from the order 
of the Presbyterian Church, and five invasions of Chris- 
tian discipline. They also set forth their views of some 
necessary reforms, which comprised measures such as these : 
The abolition of the Plan of Union which then existed vfith 
the Congregationalists, and which had been adopted in 
1801 ; the discontinuance of the American Home Mis- 
sionary and Education Societies ; the separation from the 
church of all presbyteries and synods which contained un- 
sound and disorderly members ; the separation from the 
church of all presbyteries and synods which were not or- 
ganized on strictly and exclusively Presbyterian principles ; 
and the requisition on all candidates for the ministry that 
they shall make an explicit acceptance of the Confession 
of Faith and Form of Government of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

The Convention having sent in their memorial to the 
Assembly of 1837, the latter approved of all its views 
and suggestions, and carried out the "reforms" which it 
had recommended. The doctrinal views which the conven- 
tion condemned and submitted to the Assembly were also 
censured and pronounced in opposition to the teachings 
of the Presbyterian Church. As the document which sets 



HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 85 

these alleged errors forth is one of the most extraordinary 
and remarkable which has ever been elaborated in the 
history of any Christian church, and as it is rarely to be 
found at the present time, we will insert it for the edifica- 
tion of our readers : 

" I. God would have been glad to prevent the existence 
of sin in our world, but was not able, without destroying 
the moral agency of man ; or, that for aught which ap- 
pears in the Bible to the contrary, sin is incidental to any 
wise moral system. 

"II. Election to eternal life is founded on a foresight 
of faith and obedience. 

" III. We have no more to do with the first sin of Adam 
than with the sins of any other parent. 

"IV. Infants come into the world as free from moral 
defilement as was Adam when he was created. 

" y. Infants sustain the same relation to the moral gov- 
ernment of God in this world as brute animals, and their 
sufferings and death are to be accounted for on the same 
principle as those of brutes, and not by any means to be 
considered as penal. 

" YI. There is no other original sin than the fact that 
all the posterity of Adam, though by nature innocent, or 
possessed of no moral character, will always begin to sin 
when they begin to exercise moral agency. Original sin 
does not include a sinful bias of the human mind and a 
just exposure to penal suffering. There is no evidence in 
Scripture that infants, in order to salvation, do need re- 
demption by the blood of Christ and regeneration by the 
Holy Ghost. 

" VII. The doctrine of imputation, whether of the 
guilt of Adam's sin, or of the righteousness of Christ, 
has no foundation in the word of God and is both unjust 
and absurd. 

" VIII. The sufferings and death of Christ were not 
truly vicarious and penal, but symbolical, governmental, 
and instructive only. 

" IX. The impenitent sinner by nature, and indepen- 



86 HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

dently of the renewing influence or almignty energy of 
the Holy Spirit, is in full possession of all the ability 
necessary to a full compliance with all the commands of 
God. 

" X. Christ never intercedes for any but those who are 
actually united to him by faith ; or Christ does not inter- 
cede for the elect until after their regeneration. 

'' XI. Saving faith is the mere belief of the word cf 
God, and not a grace of the Holy Spirit. 

" XII. Regeneration is the act of the sinner himself, 
and it consists in a change of his governing purpose, which 
he himself must produce, and which is the result, not of 
any direct influence of the Holy Spirit on the heart, but 
chiefly of a persuasive exhibition of the truth, analogous 
to the influence which one man exerts over the mind of 
another ; or regeneration is not an instantaneous act, but 
a progressive work. 

" XIII. God has done all that he can do for the salva- 
tion of all men, and man himself must do the rest. 

"XIV. God cannot exert such influence on the minds 
of men as shall make it certain that they will choose and 
act in a particular manner, without impairing their moral 
agency. 

" XY. The righteousness of Christ is not the sole ground 
of the sinner's acceptance with God ; and in no sense does 
the righteousness of Christ become ours. 

"XVI. The reason wlij some difier from others in re- 
gard to their reception of the gospel is, that they make 
themselves to difier." 

The Convention pronounced these " errors unscriptural, 
radical, and highly dangerous," which in "their ultimate 
tendency, subvert the foundation of Christian hope, and 
destroy the souls of men." 

The session of the General Assembly of 1837, was not 
long enough to complete the schism of the church, and 
the final dissolution did not take place till the meeting of 
that body in 1838. Besides the irreconcilable doctrinal 
differences which existed between the two opposing factions, 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 87 

other causes of dispute arose. The Moderator of the As- 
sembly refused to entertain a motion which was made to 
receive the Commissioners who had been chosen and sent 
from the four Synods of Genesee, Geneva, Utica, and the 
Western Reserve, because the members of those Synods 
were not supposed to be rigidly Presbyterian, and because 
their correspondence with the Assembly had been previ- 
ously suspended by a vote of the Assembly of 1837, in 
accordance with the suggestion of the " Convention" al- 
ready referred to. When this extreme degree of rigor 
was exhibited by the Moderator of the General Assembly, 
the New School party deemed that the proper time had at 
length arrived for them to secede and separate themselves 
from a body of whose acts and views they so little ap- 
proved. Accordingly it did so ; they withdrew from the 
Assembly, organized themselves in the edifice of the First 
Presbyterian Church, (Mr. Barnes',) elected a Moderator 
and clerks, and thus commenced a separate and indepen- 
dent ecclesiastical existence, which still continues to the 
present day. They are sometimes termed the "Puritan" 
party in the Presbyterian body, in opposition to the 
" Scotch" party, which term is applied to the Old School 
faction. The General Assembly of the former meet once 
in three years, that of the latter once each year. 

Since this memorable separation, the two Churches 
have greatly flourished ; though the Old School have in- 
creased more rapidly than the New. The differences of 
doctrine between them may be described simply thus : the 
New School are not quite as extreme Calvinists as the 
opposite party ; though the distinction between them is in 
truth so slight, that it is almost impossible to define it 
clearly. Both parties claim to be purely Calvinistic, and 
disclaim any admixture of Arminianism in their views. 
They differ most materially on the subject of slavery. As 
a large majority of the members of the Old School Church 
live in Southern States, that Church has declared authori- 
tatively by her Synods and Assembly that slavery is right, 
allowable, and even an institution recognized and permitted 



88 HISTORY OF ALL EELIGIONS. 

in the Scriptures. As a large majority of the members 
of the New School Church live in Northern and Western 
States, that Church has decided by its several tribunals 
that slavery is utterly wrong, condemned by the word of 
God, atrocious, and justifiable by no law human or divine. 
The literary institutions of the New School Church are 
the Theological Seminaries at Auburn, the Union Semi- 
nary in New York city, Lane Seminary at Cincinnati, 
that at Marysville, Tennessee, and the Western Reserve 
College, Ohio. The General Assembly has under its 
jurisdiction twenty synods, about one hundred and five 
presbyteries, fifteen hundred ministers, two thousand 
churches, and about two hundred thousand regular com- 
municants. Among the eminent men belonging to the 
New School Church are Drs. Nathan S. S. Bem<an, Ezra 
Stiles Ely, Albert Barnes, Lyman Beecher, and Edward 
Robinson. 

THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. 

The Protestant religion was established in Holland in- 
the year 1573, after that country had achieved its liber- 
ties, and thrown off the yoke and tyranny of Spain, through 
the agency of the heroic William of Nassau, Prince of 
Orange. Previous to this period the doctrines of the Re- 
formation had been gradually introduced, and isolated 
churches had been formed throughput all the United Pro- 
vinces ; but it was not till the period just named that the 
Protestant religion became established and recognized by 
law. It then took the name of the Dutch Reformed 
Church, and became the national religion of North Hol- 
land. 

The first members of this communion who existed in 
this country were the original settlers and inhabitants of 
Albany and New Amsterdam, in the colony of New York. 
The name of the latter town was subsequently changed to 
that of New York — the predecessor of the present vast 
metropolis of wealth, vice, misery, and mud, of this country. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 8^ 

Soon after the arrival of the Dutch immigrants in the 
colony of New York, they sent to the Classis or Synod 
of Amsterdam, desiring that they might be supplied with 
ministers. This request was conveyed by several cap- 
tains who were in the service of the Dutch West India 
Company, who at that time visited the port of New York. 
The Classis of Amsterdam took the matter into considera- 
tion, and finally selected several young clergymen to visit 
the distant colony and re'side in it. 

The first Dutch Church in the United States was erected 
in New York, on the spot now occupied by the Battery, at 
the foot of Broadway. Other authorities, however, con- 
tend that a small religious edifice had been built shortly 
anterior to this, near the lower end of Stone Street, about 
the year 1620. Another church was afterward con- 
structed, in 1642, in what was then the Fort. The next 
in the order of time was a church erected by Governor 
Stuyvesant on his farm, or, as it was called in the Dutch 
language, his bowery. It is from this source that the 
celebrated street now known as the Bowery, in the city 
of New York, derived its appellation. The first ministers 
who supplied these churches, and preached only in the 
Dutch or Hollandish language, were Dominies Bogardus 
and J. and S. Megapolensis. These clergymen came from 
the Classis of old Amsterdam ; and it was this fact which 
afterward gave rise to the fierce and long dispute which 
subsequently ensued between the Dutch churches of New 
York and the Classis of Amsterdam, when the latter 
claimed the right of exercising an absolute jurisdiction 
over the Dutch churches in the colony. Two parties arose 
in those churches, one of which was in favor of recogni- 
zing the claim of the Classis of Amsterdam, and the other 
in favor of regarding the churches in New York as per- 
fectly free and independent of foreign jurisdiction. Ac- 
cording to the view of those who were in favor of the 
Amsterdam Classis, all questions of devotion and disci- 
pline, and all casses of ecclesiastical controversy, were to 
be sent over to the old country for adjudication ; and all 



90 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

young candidates for tlie ministry should be sent there 
also to be educated and ordained. These obligations were 
regarded as a great and unnecessary burden by the Native 
American party in the church, and were strenuously op- 
posed by them. The controversy which ensued was one 
of the longest and most determined which has occurred in 
the history of religious denominations in this country. At 
length the zeal of the parties expended itself; a compro- 
mise was gradually adopted ; ^d the authority and do- 
minion of the foreign Classis dwindled down till at last it 
amounted to nothing more than a recogition of fraternal 
alliance. 

The Dutch Reformed Church remained the leading sect 
in New York till about the year 1670, when the Protestant 
Episcopal Church began to attain a superior power and 
importance. In 1664 the province was surrendered by 
the Dutch to the English monarch, and from that period 
the tide of influence turned ; although the majority of the 
inhabitants of the colony were Dutch, and were connected 
with the Dutch church. As might naturally be expected, 
an intense spirit of jealousy arose between the two churches 
in New York, which has not even yet entirely passed 
away. In 1693 the project began to be mooted by the 
then Governor Fletcher, of making the Episcopal Church 
the established religion of the colony ; he proposed that 
all the citizens should be taxed, without exception, for its 
support ; and in a short time, through his agency, the As- 
sembly passed a law to that effect, which attained the 
purposed end in the counties of New York, West Chester, 
Richmond and Queen's. This state of things continued 
from 1694 till the year 1776 — a period of eighty-two 
years. The Dutch Reformed Churches, beside maintain- 
ing their own preachers, were compelled by taxes to aid 
in the support of the clergymen of the Church of England. 
This miniature copy of the ecclesiastical despotism of the 
established church in England continued to exist until the 
outbreak of the American Revolution, when it fell to the 



I 



i 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 91 

ground, along with many other detestable monuments of 
the avarice, tyranny and ambition of Great Britain. 

After the Revolution, the Dutch Church in New York 
began to flourish greatly. About the year 1771, Dr. 
John H. Livingston appeared upon the stage of action ; 
and his superior talents and influence were thenceforth de- 
voted, during a long life, to the promotion of the interests 
of this church. His is the most eminent name which oc- 
curs in the history of the Dutch Reformed sect in this 
country. He was to them what Dr. Henry M. Muhlen- 
berg was to the Lutheran Church. Dr. Livingston was a 
man of unusual ability, of great prudence, and was admi- 
rably adapted to accomplish much good in the then forma- 
tive and transition state of the Dutch Reformed Church. 
He, together with other men of like vievf s and spirit, went 
to work and drew up a plan of church government for the 
future and independent control of the churches. The 
leading men in the sect at that time were Livingston, 
Hardenberg, Roosevelt, Westerlo, Romeyn, and Schoon- 
maker; and these having approved the form of discipline 
and government which Dr. Livingston had prepared, it 
was submitted to a convention of all the ministers and 
elders of the church in this country, and was ultimately 
approved by them. A copy was then sent to the great 
Classis of Amsterdam, in Holland, by whom it was also 
approved. By the attainment of this happy result, the 
harmony and unity of the churches were promoted, and 
the most favorable results attained. 

The next important step in the progress of this church 
was the establishment of a college for the education of 
young ministers. Of this institution Dr. Livingston was 
elected President. In 1784 the old and almost defunct 
Queen's College, which was located at New Brunswick, 
was revived by the Classis ; and their new college was in- 
corporated into it. That institution, after various vicissi- 
tudes, still continues to exist, with a considerable share 
of prosperity. Its public buildings, libraries and philo- 
eophical apparatus, are all on a liberal scale. From the 



92 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

year 1816 till 1825, its exercises were wholly suspended, 
in consequence of pecuniary embarrassments. The emi- 
nent and venerable Dr. Milledoler was for many years 
afterward its President, and the worthy successor of Dr. 
Livingston. This establishment, which has a theological 
department connected with it for the purpose of educating 
young clergymen, is the chief literary institution belong- 
ing to the Dutch Reformed Church. In New York city 
some of the congregations of the sect are very numerous 
and wealthy ; and they number among their members 
many persons occupying the highest positions of influence 
and importance in the community. 

The doctrinal system held by the Dutch Reformed 
Church is that of extreme and ultra Calvinism. They be- 
lieve in the Predestination of a few of the human family 
to eternal life, and the reprobation of a vast majority of 
them to eternal misery. They hold to the limited atone- 
ment of Christ ; to man's entire and total moral corrup- 
tion ; to his utter inability to repent, unless it be in ac- 
cordance with a divine and eternal decree to that effect ; 
and to the final perseverance of the Saints — that is, if a 
person be once converted, it is impossible for him to fall 
away and come short of salvation. These doctrines were 
proclaimed by the great Synod of Dort, or Dordrecht, 
which convened in 1618, and were promulgated there in 
thirty-seven articles. They are the same as those which 
are set forth in the Heidelberg Catechism, which is the 
symbol of the German Reformed Church. The Dutch 
Church believes in the inspiration and sufficiency of the 
Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice for Christians. 
There is, in fact, no difference in doctrine between this 
sect and the Old School Presbyterian Church. Nor do 
they differ as to church government ; for both believe in 
the parity or equality of all ordained ministers, and both 
are governed by Synods and . a General Assembly, or 
what is the same thing, by Classes and a General Synod. 
Each congregation has its session, or consistory, which is 
equivalent to the vestries of other churches. The Deacons 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONSw 93 

are entrusted generally with the secular affairs of the 
congregation. The only essential difference between the 
Dutch Reformed and the Presbyterian churches is, that, 
in the former, the Ruling Elders are always chosen to 
serve for two years, whereas in the latter they are elected 
for life. 

The Dutch CHurch in this country holds a prominent 
place among the secondary sects. Her preachers are gen- 
erally well educated; though sometimes clergymen are 
admitted from other denominations who are deficient in 
suitable theological attainments. They have twenty 
Classes, or Synods, and a General Synod. The number 
of members, or of persons who attend the churches of this 
sect, is about a hundred thousand. There are three hundred 
organized congregations and two hundred and ninety min- 
isters in the United States. Among them are some cler- 
gymen of distinction, such as Drs. Bethune, De Witt, 
Knox, Milledoler and Brownlee. Among the past and 
present laymen of the Church, the distinguished names 
occur of Van Rensselaer, Freylinghuysen, Roosevelt, 
Schuyler, Stuyvesant, and others. This sect has always 
been remarkable for its liberality of feeling toward other 
orthodox sects ; and it is a singular fact that ,the Rev. Mr. 
Yesey, the first rector of Trinity Church in New York, was 
inducted into his office, in 1697, in the Dutch Church, in Gar- 
den street ; that two Dutch clergymen, Messrs. Solyn and 
Nucella, officiated on the occasion ; and that Mr. Yesey after- 
ward conducted his public services in the Dutch Church, 
until the building of Trinity Church, which was then in 
progress, was completed. In 1779, during the Revolu- 
tionary war,, the Dutch Church in Garden street was 
seized by the British troops and used as a hospital ; on 
whioh occasion the vestry of Trinity Church reciprocated 
t&e favor, and tendered to the Dutch con2i;reo;ation the use 
of St. George Church for the purpose of holding their re- 
ligious services therein. We doubt very much whether 
the Episcopal Church would exhibit the same fraternal 



94 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

feeling anywhere at the present day, to any of the " dis- 
senters," even in their direst necessity. 

HUGUENOTS. 

In French History this name was given in the sixteenth 
century to the Protestants or Calvinists of France. The 
writers of that time were not acquainted with the true de- 
rivation of this popular epithet, to which they assigned 
various ahsurd etymologies. It is undoubtedly a corrup- 
tion of the German " Eidgenossen," signifying the Swiss 
confederates. 

The Huguenots arose in the year 1560, and greatly in- 
creased until the year 1572, in the reign of Charles IX., when 
at the feast of Bartholomew on the 24th of August, nearly 
eighty thousand Protestants were massacred in France, 
by the decree of this king. Twenty-six years afterwards, 
Henry IV., caused the Edict of Nantz to be passed, which 
enabled the Protestants to worship God agreeably to the 
dictates of their consciences. Their privileges were thus 
enjoyed by them to the time of the voluptuous and sensual 
reign of Louis XIV., when they were again persecuted, 
their churches destroyed, and thousands put inhumanly 
to death. From the best authorities it is said that near 
one hundred thousand were driven out of their own coun- 
try during that reign. 

Vast numbers found an asylum in England, who brought 
with them the manufacture of silks, which became a great 
source of wealth to the government of England. Many 
found refuge in the United States, particularly in South 
Carolina, and their descendants are among the most re- 
spected of American citizens. 

THEOPHILANTHROPISTS. 

This title was assumed by a society formed at Parig 
during the first French revolution. It is a compound 
word, derived from the Greek, and implies a profession of 
adoration towards God and love for mankind. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 95 

The object of the founders of this sect -was to establish 
a new religion in the place of Christianity, which had 
been formally abolished in France by the Convention, and 
had lost its power over the minds of large classes of the 
people. The Directory granted these philosophical secta- 
rians the use of ten parish churches in Paris, where they 
held meetings for religious service ; at first on the Decadi, 
or revolutionary holiday, afterwards on Sunday. Their 
system of belief was a pure Deism ; their service a simple 
liturgy, with some emblematical ceremonies. The follow- 
ing inscriptions were placed upon their altar : 

First Inscription. — We believe in the existence of a 
God, in the immortality of the soul. 

Second Inscription. — Worship God, cherish your 
kind, render yourselves useful to your country. 

Third Inscription. — Good is every thing which tends 
to the preservation or the perfection of man. 

Evil is every thing which tends to destroy or deteriorate 
him. 

Fourth Inscription. — Children, honor your fathers 
and mothers. Obey them with affection. Comfort their 
old age. 

Fathers and mothers, instruct your children. 

Fifth Inscription. — Wives, regard in your husbands 
the chiefs of your houses. 

Husbands, love your wives, and render yourselves re- 
ciprocally happy. 

" The temple most worthy of the divinity, in the eyes 
of the Theophilanthropists, " said one of their number, "is 
the universe. Abandoned sometimes under the vaults of 
heaven to the contemplation of the beauties of nature, 
they render its author the homage of adoration and grati- 
tude. They nevertheless have temples erected by the 
hands of men, in which it is more commodious for them to 
assemble and listen to lessons concerning his wisdom. 
Certain moral inscriptions, a simple altar on which they 
deposit, as a sign of gratitude for the benefits of the Crea- 
tor, such flowers or fruits as the season affords, and a 



yo HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

tribune for lectures and discourses, form the whole of the 
ornaments of their temples." 

The attempt on the part of the Theophilanthropists to 
found a new religion was a failure. In 1802, they were 
forbidden the use of the churches of Paris by the consuls, 
and then ceased to exist. 

GNOSTICS. 

Gnosticism was a philosophical system of religion 
which prevailed in the East during the first four centuries 
of our era, and exercised great influence upon Christian 
theology, giving birth to numerous and widely-diffused 
heresies, and insinuating itself under a modified form even 
into the writings of the most orthodox fathers. The ori- 
gin of the system is involved in considerable obscurity ; in 
its leading principles it seems to point to the Oriental 
philosophy as its genuine parent, but it is objected to this 
solution that the fathers refer it, together with the errors 
similarly introduced by Platonism, to a Greek origin, and 
appeal to the cosmogonies of Hesiod and others, as the* 
real exemplars, from which it is imitated. It is to be re- 
marked, however, that the fathers were universally igno- 
rant of the Oriental philosophy ; from which we may con- 
clude that their opinion upon such a point is not necessa- 
rily conclusive. A modern solution conceives Alexandria 
to have been the central point to which the speculations 
of the Greeks and the Orientals converged, and from 
whence they frequently re-issued, after having undergone 
the process of fusion into a common mass. It is certain 
that Alexandria was, during the time we have spoken of, 
a celebrated resort of Gnostic opinions, both within and 
without the Church. 

The grand principle of this philosophy seems to have 
been an attempt to reconcile the difficulties attending upon 
the existence of evil in the world. Evil, it was supposed, 
being the contrary of good, must be contrary to, and 
therefore, the opponent of God ; if the opponent of God, 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 97 

then independent of him and coeternal. From tlie many 
imperfections which are involved in all outward and sensi- 
ble objects, it was held that matter must contain in itself 
the principle of all evil. The human soul on the contrary, 
which aspires after, and tends to a higher and more per- 
fect development, was held to be the gift of the Supreme 
Deity, imparted to man for the sake of combating against 
the material principle, and with the prospect of finally 
subduing it. From the Supreme God on the one hand, 
and matter on the other, succeeding philosophers pro- 
duced various fanciful genealogies of superior intelligences, 
under the name of ^ons — a Greek word, signifying pro- 
perly, periods; thus representing these divinities them- 
selves by a name expressive of the time and order of their 
generation, much as in our current language the term 
reign, or government, is frequently put for the king or 
ministers governing. The Demiurgus who formed the 
world out of matter, appears to have been an -^on de- 
rived from the evil principle. He was also the God of 
the Old Testament, who was considered by the Gnostics 
to be. an object of aversion to the One Supreme God, to 
counteract whose machinations the xEon Christ was sent 
into the world. This is the earlier and simpler system, 
which is attributed to Simon Magus ; the number of the 
^ons was fancifully multiplied in latter times, and an ex- 
travagant theory of morals founded upon the system. 
The object of this principally was, as may be supposed, 
to depreciate the honor due to the body, as being a part 
of matter, and to elevate the thinking faculty, or at least, 
to remove it from all consideration of worldly things. 
The Gnostics imagined that by assiduous practice of cer- 
tain mentaj and bodily austerities, they could obtain an 
mtuition of the divine nature, and dwell in communion 
with it ; and this part of their system is adopted to a con- 
siderable extent by Clemens Alexandrinus, whose opinions, 
as expressed in the Pcedagogus, are very similar to those 
of a Pietist of more modern times. 

The Gnostics split in process of time into various sects, 



98 HISTORY OF ALL KELIGIONS. 

distinguished rather by the different cosmogonies they in- 
vented, than by any variation in principle. Of these, the 
principal were founded by Carpocrates, Basilides, Tatian, 
and Yalentinus. The system did not survive the 4th cen- 
tury. The Christians seem sometimes to have adopted 
the general designation of Gnostics. 

MORMONS OR LATTER DAY SAINTS. 

Notwithstanding the general abhorrence and con- 
tempt with which the Mormons are regarded by all other 
religious sects, they adhere pertinaciously to their claim to 
be the true church ; and are in no degree daunted or dis- 
couraged by the universal hostility which is manifested 
against them. Their pretensions, and the prominent place 
which they have obtained in the history of religion, false 
and true, in the United States render it proper that we 
should include them in this work. 

Joseph Smith, the founder of this remarkable commu- 
nity, was born in Sharon, Vermont, in December, 1805. 
In his youth his parents removed to Palmyra, New York, 
and he commenced his public career in the vicinity of that 
place. He never enjoyed the benefit of much education ; 
to "read, write, and cypher" was the extent of his scholas- 
tic attainments. He pretended that in September, 1823, 
he was favored with a divine vision, in which he saw a 
light, brighter than the noonday sun, and that an angel 
from heaven stood before him in person, who informed him 
that he was chosen by Christ to proclaim a new religion, 
an improvement upon the old Christianity ; that the end 
of the world, the latter day glory, was approaching, of 
which he (Smith) was appointed to be the herald and the 
forerunner. He was also informed that certain golden 
plates, containing a new revelation, and a record of the 
history of the Aborigines of this continent, were buried 
at a certain place under ground ; and he was commissioned 
to obtain, read, and interpret them, and proclaim their 
contents to the world. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGTOXS. 99 

It is pretended that these plates contained the Book of 
Mormon, which has since become well known. Smith be- 
gan to give himself out, after this, as a teacher sent from 
God. His immediate relations and friends were those to 
whom he first preached ; and after some time and labor, 
he succeeded in converting five of them to his creed. The 
firdt regular organization of a Mormon church took place 
in April, 1830, in the town of Manchester, New York. 
The translation of the contents of the golden plates, which 
were written in an unknown and mysterious language, 
Smith professed to accomplish by means of the " Urim 
and Thummim," the keys of light and knowledge which 
were miraculously imparted to him. The opponents of 
the Mormons, however, assert that the Book of Mormon 
is nothing more than a religious history, or romance, 
written by a person named Solomon Spaulding, who was 
a graduate of Dartmouth College, and became a clergy- 
man, who afterward relinquished the profession and en- 
tered into commercial pursuits. Having removed to Ohio, 
he conceived the idea of writing such a work, and he spent 
three years in the execution of it. Two of the principal 
personages in the story are Mormon and Moroni, and from 
the former of these the book is named. In 1812 Spauld- 
ing brought the manuscript to Pittsburgh, and ofi'ered it 
to a bookseller named Patterson, for the purpose of pub- 
lication. Before the matter could be arranged, Spaulding 
died, and the work remained in the possession of Patter- 
son, who paid no further attention to it. After his death, 
in 1826, the manuscript fell into the hands of one Sidney 
Rigdon, by whose means it came under the inspection of 
Joseph Smith. From it Smith conceived the idea of found- 
ing a new sect, on the basis of the new revelation which 
this book was supposed to contain. 

The Book of Mormon is an imaginary narrative of the 
early history of the American Indians, who, the writer 
endeavors to show, are the descendants of the ten lost 
tribes of the Jews. It gives a detailed account of their 
supposed journey from Jerusalem, both by land and sea, 



100 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

till their arrival in America^ under the guidance of Nephi 
a.nd Lehi. The identity of these two works was prove4 
by the assertions under oath of several respectable per- 
sons who had heard Spaulding read portions of his manu- 
script, and w^ho readily discovered that a perfect sameness 
and resemblance pervaded them. Yet the book answered 
the purposes of Smith admirably, for it was written in an 
antique style, was filled with Oriental allusions, and was 
singularly adapted to answer the preposterous end to which 
the Prophet subsequently appropriated it. 

The great object which Smith professed to have in view 
in the establishment of his new sect was to prepare the 
way for the second coming of Christ to judgment, to usher 
in the millennium, and to gather a round him all those who, 
by belonging to his community, should be in a state of 
preparation to receive Christ, and thus become heirs of 
Heaven. His earnestness and zeal soon gathered around 
him a considerable number of adherents ; and the first 
conference of all the " saints" was held in June 1830, at 
Fayette, N. Y. The palpable absurdity and falsehood of 
the whole concern soon surrounded Smith and his asso- 
ciates with many and bitter enemies, and they found it 
necessary to remove. They first emigrated to Kirkland, 
Ohio ; but here their sojourn was short. After a few 
weeks they proceeded further west, and halted in Jackson 
county, Missouri. Here Smith resolved to found the 
^' New Jerusalem." The surrounding country was beau- 
tiful, game and fish of all kinds were abundant, and every- 
thing seemed propitious for the purposes of the new pro- 
phet. Moreover, the Almighty had informed Smith, by a 
direct ''revelation," that this spot was the one which was 
agreeable to him as the future home of the saints, and 
predestined for that purpose. A site for the temple was 
laid out and dedicated. Subsequently a printing press 
was obtained, and a paper commenced, called the Evening 
and Morning Star. At this time Smith's followers 
amounted to several hundreds. But soon the new sect 
was again surrounded and assailed by persecution ; serious 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 101 

charges were made against their morals ; the people around 
them rose in a mob ; public indignation meetings were 
held ; some of the Mormon leaders were taken, tarred, and 
feathered ; and at last the whole community were expelled 
from the county. The greater portion of them took refuge 
in the neighboring county of Clay, where for a time they 
obtained a precarious resting place. 

The Mormons remained in this locality about four years, 
at the end of which time their enemies became so deter- 
mined and resolute in their persecutions that a new flight 
became necessary to their safety. On one occasion they 
were attacked by an armed band of several hundred per- 
sons at a place known as " Hawn's Mill," when twenty 
persons were killed and wounded. Threats were made to 
exterminate the whole community, and it became abso- 
lutely necessary for them again to remove. Then it was 
that these persecuted fanatics selected the place which 
they afterwards termed Nauvoo, Illinois, as their head- 
quarters. The " saints" numbered at this period about 
ten thousand persons, including women and children ; and 
soon afterward they increased to fifteen thousand by the 
addition of immigrants from the Eastern States and Eng- 
land. At Nauvoo they immediately commenced to lay 
out and build a regular town, to erect a temple, and pro- 
vide other edifices suitable to their future plans and pur- 
poses. They had purchased the land on which the new 
town was erected ; and as none but Mormons sought a 
residence among the inhabitants of the place, the whole 
community was of one mind, and the Mormon leaders 
possessed not only supreme religious influence, but all the 
secular and political power. 

The temple which was erected at Nauvoo, was an extra- 
ordinary building. The foundations were laid in April, 
1841, Joseph Smith officiated on the occasion. It was 
built of polished white limestone, being a hundred and 
thirty-eight feet in length, and eighty-eight in breadth. 
It was surmounted by a spire a hundred and seventy feet 
nigh. In the course of several years the Mormons erected 



102 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

two thousand houses, public schools, and buildings ; had 
established a paper known as the Times and Seasons, and 
had sent forth a large number of missionaries and elders 
to Europe and other distant countries to make converts. 
The success of some of these emissaries was extraordinary, 
Orson Hyde, and Heber C. Kimball, converted and bap- 
tised two thousand persons in England and Scotland dur- 
ing the course of a single year; though all their converts 
were among the lowest and most ignorant classes of the 
community. 

Nauvoo and the Mormons thus continued to grow at a 
rapid rate ; but with prosperity came its usual concomi- 
tants in such cases — spiritual pride and internal dissen- 
sions. It was about this period that Sidney Rigdon, one 
of the twelve apostles, first proposed and asserted the doc- 
trine of the plurality of wives as being a part of the true 
Mormon creed. It is but justice to Joe Smith to say, that 
he was opposed to this innovation, and that it was not 
till after his death that it became a fully recognized and 
admitted principle and practice of the Mormon commu- 
nity. Rigdon was subsequently expelled from the church ; 
but he had gained a large number of followers in his views, 
and a dangerous schism followed his exit. But the chief 
trouble of the Mormons at Nauvoo arose from the fact 
that, led on by Smith and his confederates, they assumed 
an independent jurisdiction in Nauvoo, refusing to ac- 
knowledge the authority of the State of Illinois within 
their limits ; and a law was passed by the municipal au- 
thority of Nauvoo, severely punishing any stranger who, 
within the limits of the city, should use any disrespectful 
language toward the prophet or his religion. So great 
had the arrogance of these fanatics become, that, in 1843, 
Smith was publicly nominated and proposed by them as a 
candidate for the Presidency of the United States. 

Various acts of injustice and tyranny gradually in- 
censed the community in Illinois against the Mormons, 
which ultimately led to furious hostilities, and to the death 
of Smith and several of his leading associates. They were 



HISTORY OE ALL RELiaiON-S. 103 

arrested and confined at Carthage on the charge of de- 
stroying the office of a newspaper named the Expositor, 
which had been commenced at Nauvoo by an anti-Mormon ; 
and also on the charge of treason against the authority 
of the State of Illinois. While confined on this charge, 
an infuriated mob attacked the jail ; fire-arms were used ; 
and Smith, in attempting to escape through a window, was 
struck by many balls, and fell to the ground a corpse. 
Thus ended the life and personal career of one of the most 
extraordinary men of the age, who without learning or 
culture, or real ability of any kind, but by the mere force 
of boundless craft and impudence, succeeded in establish- 
ing a sect which has obtained no obscure place in the his- 
tory of the present century, and which bids fair to exist 
for several generations to come. 

It was after the death of Smith that Brigham Young, 
the present leader of the Mormons, first assumed a prom- 
inent place in their community. He succeeded in being 
chosen to the Presidency of the sect, in the defunct pro- 
phet's place ; and he has since managed to retain his 
supremacy. He resembles his predecessor in many im- 
portant respects — in his want of education, his impudence, 
his craft and cunning, and his ability to control the opin- 
ions and actions of his co-religionists. But the death of 
Smith did not appease the vengeance of the enemies of 
the Mormons. New persecutions were commenced, which 
resulted finally in an attack on Nauvoo, and the expulsion 
of the Mormons from Illinois in January, 1846. They 
now resolved to seek a home beyond the Rocky Mount- 
ains. They had heard of the desirable features of a tract 
in the distant and unoccupied territory of Utah, named 
the Great Salt Lake Valley, and thither they determined 
to travel. Four thousand persons constituted the com- 
pany, who under the guidance of Brigham Young, com- 
menced and completed this long and laborious journey. 
In July, 1847, they reached Great Salt Lake Valley, and 
began to build the town which they still inhabit. 

The career of the Mormons since their removal to Utah 



104 HISTORY or ALL RELIGIONS. 

is SO familiar to the public that it is unnecessary for us to 
dwell upon it here. We will conclude with a brief state- 
ment of their doctrines. They believe in the Trinity, en- 
tertaining on this point the orthodox Christian theory. 
They deny that men will be punished in any way for 
Adam's sin, or that they fell in consequence of Adam's 
transgression. They believe that all mankind may be 
saved by Christ's atonement, and by the use of the sacra- 
ments and ordinances of the Mormon church. These or- 
dinances they hold to be Faith, Repentance, Baptism by 
Immersion, Laying on of hands, and the Lord's Supper. 
They believe that the true church should be organized 
like the apostolic church, with Apostles, prophets, elders, 
teachers, evangelists, &c., who should possess, like them, 
the power to work miracles, to heal the sick, &c. They 
hold that the Scriptures are inspired, and that the Book 
of Mormon is equally so, and possessed of an authority 
and sanctity similar to that of the Bible ; that Israel will 
be literally " gathered in ;" that Christ will reign in per- - 
son a thousand years on the earth ; that his head-quarters 
will be with the Mormon saints, wherever they may be at 
the time of his advent ; and that when he comes there 
will be a new heaven and a new earth. In addition to 
these points, they hold to the literal resurrection of the 
body, a literal judgment, and the reigning of the saints 
with Christ over the whole earth. 

But the most remarkable feature of the Mormon creed 
is their "spiritual wife" doctrine. This theory is based 
on the idea that the future kingdom of the saints is to 
consist solely of their own posterity, and hence the more 
children a " saint" has, the more heirs of glory are created ; 
and that women may become heirs of heaven also, by be- 
coming ''- sealed'' to a saint, and entering paradise with 
him. This spiritual relation, however, always involves 
the usual incidents which accompany ordinary marriage, 
and it is in fact nothing but a subterfuge to excuse and 
justify the monstrous sensual excesses of polygamous life, 
in which they indulge. Some of the saints are said to 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 105 

Iiave as many as twenty, others thirty, and otters even 
forty wives ; and the having of more than one wife is the 
generally prevalent custom among the inhabitants of Salt 
Lake City. It is probable that the whole Mormon com- 
munity now dwelling in Utah territory may amount to 
forty thousand persons; and the sum total of the sect 
throughout the world cannot, by the most liberal estimate, 
exceed a hundred thousand. "*" 

NECESSAEIANS. 

That scheme which represents all human actions and 
feelings as links in a chain of causation, determined by 
laws in every respect analogous to those by which the 
physical universe is governed, is termed the Doctrine of 
Necessity. This doctrine has been attacked and defended 
with great zeal, in almost every period of speculative in- 
quiry since the Reformation. 

The inductive method of research, applied by Bacon 
and his contemporaries to the phenomena of nature, led 
very soon to the adoption of a similar method in reference 
to the phenomena of mind. The discovery, or rather the 
distinct re-assertion, of the law of association by Hobbes, 
and the ready solution which it appeared to furnish of 
states of consciousness, which, without it, would have 
seemed capricious and unaccountable, encouraged many 
philosophers to attempt its application to every province 
of the human mind. It is only in connection with this 
fact that the prevalence of Necessarian views in modern 
times can be adequately explained. 

Without venturing an opinion on the merits of the 
question at issue, between the advocates of free will and 
of necessity, we are sufficiently assured of the historical 
fact, that the distinction between man and nature, between 
the actions of a self-conscious agent and the workings of 
■ 

* See the Social, Religious, and Political History of the Mormons, 
from their Origin to the Present Time. Edited and Completed by 
Bamuel M. Smucker, A. M. New York, 1857. 



106 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

blind, unintelligent powers, was considered by the great 
philosophers of antiquity as the groundwork of their sys- 
tems of morality, and as involved in the very conception 
of moral science. It was natural that this distinction 
should be felt to be a barrier to the progress of the exclu- 
sively empirical psychology to which we have alluded. 
To the historians of man's nature, the necessity of his ac- 
tions appeared in the light of an hypothesis which lay at 
the very foundation of their inquiries, precisely as the 
natural philosopher is compelled to assume the regular re- 
currence of the same outward phenomena under the same 
circumstances. 

The psychologist considers the states of which he is 
conscious, merely as they are related to each other in 
time ; and, thus considered, it seems to him a mere identi- 
cal proposition to assert that all that can be known of them 
is the order of their succession. If their succession were 
arbitrary or uncertain, nothing could be known of it, and 
the science which he professes could no longer have an 
existence. 

It is in this consideration, rather than in the dialectic? 
subtleties by which the doctrine has been sometimes de- 
fended, that the real strength of the Necessarian lies. So 
long as he can maintain the merely phenomenal character 
of human knowledge, he can reduce his opponents to the 
dilemma of either denying the possibility of mental sci- 
ence altogether, or of admitting the existence of those 
uniform laws which are its only object. 

BAXTERIANS. 

In ecclesiastical history, the name of Baxterians is ap- 
plied to those theologians, who adopted the sentiments of 
Richard Baxter on the subject of grace and free will, form- 
ing a sort of middle way between Calvinism and Armin- 
ianism. They never formed, strictly speaking, a sect, and 
the name is now disused ; nevertheless, similarly modified 
opinions are common among Presbyterians at this day. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 107 

With the Calvinist, Baxter professes to believe that a 
certain number, determined upon in the divine councils, 
will be infallibly saved ; and with the Arminian he joins 
in rejecting the doctrine of reprobation as absurd and im- 
pious ; admits that Christ, in a certain sense, died for all, 
and supposes that such a portion of grace is allotted to 
every man as renders it his own fault if he does not at- 
tain eternal life. 

Among Baxterians are ranked both Watts and Dod- 
dridge. Dr. Doddridge, indeed, has this striking re- 
mark : " That a being who is said not to tempt any one, 
and even swears that he desires not the death of a sinner, 
should irresistibly determine millions to the commission of 
every sinful action of their lives, and then with all the 
pomp and pageantry of an universal judgment condemn 
them to eternal misery, on account of these actions, that 
he may promote the happiness of others who are, or shall 
be irresistibly determined to virtue, in the like manner, is 
of all incredible things to me the most incredible !" 

Baxter, who was born in Shropshire, England, in 1615, 
was an extraordinary character in the religious world. 
He wrote about one hundred and twenty books, and had 
above sixty written against him. His ^'Saint's Best" is 
a work with which every intelligent Christian, of what- 
ever denomination he may be, should be familiar. Though 
he possessed a metaphysical genius, and consequently 
sometimes made a distinction without a difference, yet the 
great object of most of his productions was peace and 
amity. Accordingly his system was formed, not to in- 
flame the passions and widen the breaches, but to heal 
the wounds of the Christian church, under which she 
had long languished. 

As a proof of this assertion, we take the following affecting 
declaration from the narrative of his own Life and Times : 
"I am deeplier afflicted at the disagreements of Chris- 
tians, than when I was a young Christian ; except the 
case of the infidel world, nothing is so sad and grievous to 
my thoughts as the case of the divided churches ! And 



108 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

therefore, I am the more deeply sensible of the sinfulness 
of those who are the principal cause of these divisions. 
Oh, how many millions of souls are kept by their igno- 
rance and ungodliness, and deluded by faction, as if it were 
true religion ! How is the conversion of infidels hindered, 
Christ and religion heinously dishonored ! The conten- 
tions between the Greek church and the Roman, the Pa- 
pists and the Protestants, the Lutherans and the Calvinists, 
have woefully hindered the kingdom of Christ !" 

THE SEOEDERS OR ASSOCIATE REFORMED. 

The history of this sect, which is a prominent branch 
of the great Presbyterian family, illustrates forcibly the 
effects which result from that prodigious spirit of contro- 
versy and contention which has often characterized the 
Scotch churches. This sect arose in 1733, and was oc- 
casioned by the delivery of a sermon by the Rev. Ebenezer 
Erskine, at the opening of the Synod of Perth and Stir- 
ling, in Scotland, in which he condemned the then recent 
laws passed by General Assembly in reference to the set- 
tlement of ministers. He was afterward arraigned for 
trial, was censured, refused to submit to the censure, and 
then seceded from the Presbyterian or Established church. 
He, with half a dozen other ministers, formed themselves 
into a new and distinct body, which they called the "As- 
sociate Presbytery." They also published a document, in 
which they set forth their views and their motives for 
making the secession, which they called their Testimony. 

A few years elapsed, and in 1746 a controversy arose 
among them in regard to the "Burgher's Oath," some of 
them contending that the taking of this oath was wrong, 
the others maintaining that it was right. They split into 
two parties eventually, who were known by the names of 
the Burghers and the anti-Burghers, each claiming to be 
the true Secession church. In 1796 the Burgher party 
again divided and underwent a sub-split, in consequence 
of a dispute among them in reference to the powers of the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 109 

civil magistrate. One party was called the " Old Light 
Burghers," and the other the " New Lights." In 1806 the 
anti-Burghers were also agitated and eventually divided 
by 1 dispute on the same subject, and the two parties into 
which they formed themselves were called the " Old" and 
"New Light" anti-Burghers. Subsequently the fever for 
sshisms subsided, and a contrary tendency took place 
among these people. The New Light Burghers and the 
anti-Burghers united m one body; and it is a curious cir- 
cumstance that this union took place in the very same 
building in Edinburgh in which seventy years before the 
original separation had occurred. In 1837, the Old 
Light Burghers returned to the Established Church of 
Scotland. Such repeated divisions and subdivisions pre- 
sent no very favorable illustration of Christian unity and 
forbearance. 

In 1751, the anti-Burgher Synod of Scotland deter- 
mined to send several ministers of their sect to the United 
States, to supply the wants of a few members who had 
emigrated to this country. Several preachers were ap- 
pointed, who eventually refused to obey the injunction. 
The Synod then, in 1752, indignantly passed a resolution 
to the effect that, should any minister or licentiate there- 
after refuse to remove to the American colonies after they 
had been appointed by the Synod so to do, they should 
be expelled from the clerical office. This was an act of 
ecclesiastical tyranny which was a disgrace to the Chris- 
tian name ; for unless the Synod professed to act in the 
choice made directly under Divine inspiration, there could 
be no certainty that their resolution was infallible and al- 
ways demanding unqualified obedience. 

Accordingly, in 1752, the Bev. Messrs. Gellatly and 
Arnot were appointed to this mission, and they soon after 
reached this country. The latter, however, was not sent 
out to remain permanently, but to make a tour of obser 
vation in regard to the state of the sect in this country, 
and then return to Scotland. In the next year Bev. 
James Proudfit came over. In 1770, there were about 



110 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

ten ministers of this denomination in this country, who 
constituted what they termed the Associate Presbytery of 
Pennsylvania. From this date the churches and members 
of the Associate Reformed sect continued steadily to in- 
crease in the Middle States. 

After the American Revolution, the scattered churches 
of this sect made an effort to consolidate themselves under 
an ecclesiastical government. In 1782, their ministers 
accordingly associated together, and took the title of the 
*' Associate Reformed Synod of North America," and 
adopted a set of articles containing their doctrinal opin- 
ions. These were chiefly as follows: That Christ died 
only for the elect ; that the gospel is addressed indiscrimi- 
nately to all mankind ; that the righteousness of Christ is 
the only ground of salvation ; that civil government origi- 
nates with God the Creator, and not with Christ the Me- 
diator ; that the administration of providence is given into 
the hand of Christ, and that the civil magistrates are ap- 
pointed to execute the purposes of God's government and 
providence, and to promote the welfare of his spiritual 
kingdom ; that the law of nature and the moral law taught" 
in the Scriptures are the same, though the latter expresses 
the will of God more fully and clearly ; and that therefore 
all magistrates should be governed by the teachings of 
Scripture in the performance of their functions ; that no 
religious test, further than an oath of fidelity, should be 
required of the civil magistrate, except where the people 
make a religious test a condition of government ; that the 
Westminster Confession of Faith, the Catechisms and 
Directory of Worship, shall be the future standards of the 
Church ; that the American churches shall be independent 
of the Scotch Ecclesiastical Courts. The peculiar tone 
of these articles, which gave such prominence to the duties 
and relations of the civU magistrate, arose from the nature 
of the endless quarrels and squabbles which at that time 
agitated the members of the sect in this country, and 
which received an undue importance in the minds of the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. Ill 

churches, in consequence of the controversies of which 
they were the everlasting theme. 

In the history of all the American sects, a prominent 
event in their career is the establishment of a theological 
seminary, which should serve as a nursery for the prepa- 
ration of the young men of the Church for the ministry. 
This remark applies to the Seceder denomination which 
we are now describing. In 1802, the leading preachers 
of the sect resolved to establish such an institution ; and 
Dr. John M. Mason, the most eminent man among them, 
was appointed to visit England and Scotland, and solicit 
funds for the purpose. He did so, and obtained about six 
thousand dollars, which were chiefly appropriated to the 
purchase of a library. In 1804, the plan of the seminary 
was completed, and Dr. Mason was elected Professor of 
Theology. The institution was located in the city of New 
York, and we believe it was the first theological seminary 
ever established in this country. Under the direction of 
Dr. Mason it attained considerable success ; but its pros- 
perity was greatly inspired by subsequent events. 

In 1822, a proposition was made by certain members of 
the Secession Church, and of the Dutch Reformed Church, 
that an union between the two sects should be effected. 
After some discussion on both sides the plan was aban- 
doned, and another substituted in its place. This was an 
union between the Seceders and the Presbyterians. Reso- 
lutions favorable to the union were passed, both by the 
General Synod of the former, and by the Greneral Assem- 
bly of the latter. The Seceders, as a denomination, were 
opposed to the union ; but the library of the seminary in 
New York was immediately removed to Princeton, appa- 
rently to prevent the possibility of losing so valuable an 
acquisition. The Seceder Synod of New York refused to 
acquiesce in the union, and demanded the return of the 
books. This demand was refused ; but the decision of the 
Courts afterwards restored the plundered property to its 
rightful owner. Subsequently this seminary was re-estab- 
lished at Newburgh, in New York, and Dr. Joseph McCar- 



112 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

roll was appointed professor. This sect have another 
theological seminary at Allegheny city, in this State, of 
which Dr J. T. Pressley is the chief professor ; and an- 
other at Oxford, Ohio, presided over by Rev. Joseph 
Claybaugh, D. D. 

The Associate Reformed Church at present exists in 
many of the middle and western States. They have about 
two hundred and fifty ministers, three hundred congrega- 
tions, and about thirty thousand members. They are re- 
garded as the most rigid and extreme of all the Calvin- 
istic sects ; their form of worship is very simple ; and they 
condemn the use of any hymns but David's psalms in the 
public singing of the church. They oppose instrumental 
music, and even choirs ; the singing being always led by 
a precentor or clerk. Its character is generally such as 
to set on edge the teeth of any one who has the least 
fondness for the melody of sweet sounds. The Seceders 
are remarkable for the everlasting length of their sermons. 
These are rarely less than an hour and a half, or two 
hours in duration ; and sometimes they have been known 
to continue even three. The consequence of this peculi- 
arity is, as might have been expected, the greatest want 
of attention to the preacher on the part of the congrega- 
tion ; and we have generally observed in Seceder churches 
that when the door is heard to open, the heads of the 
congregation turn round simultaneously, as if moved 
by machinery, to see who the new comer is. This sect can 
boast of having had among its ministers one of the most 
gifted of American divines, Dr. John M. Mason, whose 
superior for powerful and masterly eloquence has never 
stood in the American pulpit. 

FEEE COMMUNION BAPTISTS. 

The Eree Communion Baptists are a small sect in this 
country, whose distinctive feature is, that they are willing 
to allow Christians of all denominations to partake with 
them of the Lord's Supper, while the other Baptist de- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 113 

nominations are all in favor of " close communion." A 
few churches of this persuasion existed in England, and 
the celebrated Robert Hall believed in free communion. 
He wrote a tract in defence of his opinion, in which he 
says : *' It is too much to expect an enlightened public 
will be eager to enrol themselves among the members of a 
sect which display much of the intolerance of Popery with- 
out any portion of its splendor, and prescribes as the 
pledge of conversion, the renunciation of the whole Chris- 
tian world." Elsewhere he remarks: " I would not my- 
self baptize in any other way than by immersion, as the 
ancient mode, because it best represents the meaning of 
the original term employed, and the substantial import of 
this institution ; and because I should think it right to 
guard against the spirit of innovation, which, in positive 
rites, is always dangerous and progressive ; but I should 
not think myself authorized to baptize any one who had 
been sprinkled in adult age.'' The testimony of Robert 
Hall, in favor of free communion, did not, however, ac- 
complish much for the dissemination of his views in Eng- 
land and the sect never attained a regular and distinct 
organization there. 

The Free Communion Baptists exist chiefly in this 
country. About the year 1800 the first church of this 
faith was established in Herkimer county. New York, by 
a certain Elder Corp, who remained its pastor till his 
death, in 1838. Other congregations were gradually 
gathered in different portions of New York and Pennsyl- 
vania, by various preachers, prominent among whom were 
John Farley, Nath. Dickerson, Easterbrook, Hunt, Row- 
land, and Dodge. The growth of this sect has, however, 
never been very rapid or extensive. They now have about 
fifty preachers, sixty churches, and three thousand com- 
municants. Their church government is strictly congrega- 
tional, although they have a General Conference, Yearly 
Conferences, and Quarterly Meetings, whose duties and 
powers are only advisory, without any power to alter or 
revoke the decisions of the churches. They believe in the 
8 



114 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Trinity and in the Atonement, and originally they held to 
the doctrine of absolute decrees and the perseverance of 
the saints, though they have in later times practically 
abandoned these views. The public washing of the feet 
of the members in meeting was one of the most prominent 
and important usages in this sect ; though more recently, 
inasmuch as this observance gave rise to much ridicule 
and opposition, they virtually abandoned it, in accordance 
with a resolution, adopted by their General Conference in 
1831, which provided that '' all persons in connection with 
us shall have a free and lawful right to wash their feet or 
not, as they may best answer their conscience to God." 
We should suppose, however, that in warm weather it 
would be desirable, in view of several important considera- 
tions, that they should practice the affirmative of this alter- 
native. 



FEEE WILL BAPTISTS. 

Another minor denomination of Baptists are known 
by this title, which designates their most prominent charaxj- 
teristic. They believe in the freedom of the human will, in 
opposition to the Calvinistic theory, which is entertained 
by all the other Baptist communities. This sect was com- 
menced in 1780, in New Hampshire, by a Baptist preacher 
named Benjamin Randall, who had been converted by 
George Whitefield. Bandall imitated Whitefield in his 
endeavors to promote revivals, and he made a number of 
journeys, dui'ing the progress of which he preached with 
great success. He founded a large number of churches, 
and spread the new sect through Maine, New Hampshire, 
Vermont, Bhode Island, and Massachusetts. He died in 
1808. The sect is governed by a General Conference, 
which was organized in 1827. They have also Yearly and 
Quarterly meetings, subordinate to the first. Their 
preachers are rarely men of much education, though they 
are very earnest and zealous. They have about twelve 
hundred churches, one thousand preachers, and sixty 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 115 

thousand communicants. They have a theological institu- 
tion at Whitestown, New York, beside several academies 
in different parts of the country. They take considerable 
interest in foreign missions, and have three stations in 
Orissa, a province in Hindostan. They are numbered 
among the orthodox sects, believing in the Trinity, totil 
depravity of man by nature, the vicarious atonement, &c. 
Their church government, like that of all the sects which 
bear the Baptist name, is congregational or independent. 
They have a printing establishment at Dover, New Hamp- 
shire, which publishes religious books, and they issue 
several newspapers and magazines, which are devoted to 
the propagation and defence of their peculiar doctrine. 
A prominent feature of the sect is their violent condemna- 
tion of negro slavery, and their great zeal in the use of 
those contrivances and measures which tend to promote 
and carry on popular revivals and religious excitements. 

WHIPPEES. 

This denomination originated in Italy, in the thirteenth 
century, and was thence propagated through almost all 
the countries in Europe. The society that embraced this 
new discipline, ran in multitudes, composed of persons of 
both sexes, and all ranks and ages, through the public 
streets, with whips in their hands, lashing their naked 
bodies with the most astonishing severity, with a view to 
obtain the divine mercy for themselves and others, by their 
volimtary mortification and penance. This sect made their 
appearance anew in the fourteenth century, and taught, 
among other things, that flagellation was of equal virtue 
with baptism and other sacraments ; that the forgiveness 
of all sins was to be obtained by it from God, without the 
merit of Jesus Christ ; that the old law of Christ was soon 
to be abolished, and that a new law, enjoining the baptism 
of blood to be administered by whipping, was to be substi- 
tuted in its place. 

A new denomination of Whippers arose in the fifteenth 



116 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

century, who rejected the sacraments and every branch of 
external worship, and placed their only hopes of salvation 
in faith and flagellation. 

MILLENARIANS. 

The Millenarians are those who believe that Christ will 
reign personally on earth for a thousand years ; and their 
name, taken from the Latin, mille, a, thousand, has a di- 
rect allusion to the duration of this spiritual empire. The 
doctrine of the Millennium, or a future paradisaical state 
of the earth, is not of Christian, but of Jewish origin. The 
tradition is attributed to Elijah, which fixes the duration 
of the world in its present imperfect condition to six thou- 
sand years, and announces the approach of a sabbath of 
a thousand years of universal peace and plenty, to be 
ushered in by the glorious advent of the Messiah. This 
idea may be observed in the epistle of Barnabas, and in the 
opinions of Papias, who knew of no written testimony in 
its behalf. It was adopted by the author of the Revela- 
tions, by Justin Martyr, by Irenaeus, and by a long suc- 
cession of the Fathers. As the theory is animating and con- 
solatory, and when divested of cabalistic numbers and 
allegorical decorations, probable even in the eye of Phi- 
losophy, it will, no doubt, always retain a number of adhe- 
rents. 

But as the Millennium has during some years past 
attracted the attention of the public, we shall enter into a 
short detail respecting it : 

Mr. Joseph Mode, Dr. Gill, Bishop Newton, and Mr. 
Winchester, contend for the personal reign of Christ on 
earth. To use that prelate's own words, in his Disserta- 
tions on the Prophecies : — ','<fWhen these great events shall 
come to pass, of which "v^ collect from the prophecies, 
this is to be the proper order : — the Protestant witnesses 
shall be greatly exalted, and the 1260 years of their pro- 
phesying in sackcloth, and of the tyranny of the beast, 
shall end together ; the conversion and restoration of the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 117 

Jews succeed ; tlien follows the ruin of the Othman Em- 
pire ; and then the total destruction of Rome and Anti- 
christ. When these great events, I say, shall come to 
pass, then shall the kingdom of Christ commence, or the 
reign of the saints upon earth. So Daniel expressly informs 
us, that the kingdom of Christ and the saints will be raised 
upon the ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist, vii. 26, 27 : — 
' But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his 
dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end : and the 
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom 
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of 
the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.' So, likewise, 
St. John saith, that, upon the final destruction of the beast 
and the false prophet, Rev. xx., Satan is bound for a thou- 
sand years ; 'and I saw thrones and they sat on them, and 
judgment was given unto them ; and I saw the souls of 
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ 
and for the word of God ; which had not worshipped the 
beast, neither his image ; neither had received his mark 
upon their foreheads or in his hands ; and they lived and 
reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the 
dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. 
This is the first resurrection.' It is, I conceive, to these 
great events, the fall of Antichrist, the re-establishment of 
the Jews, and the beginning of the glorious Millennium, 
that the three difi"erent dates, in Daniel, of 1,260 years, 
1,290 years, and 1,335 years, are to be referred. And as 
Daniel saith, xii. 12: — 'Blessed is he that waiteth and 
Cometh to the thousand three hundred five and thirty days.' 
So St. John saith. Rev. xx. 6 : — ' Blessed and holy is he 
that hath part in the first resurrection.' Blessed and hap- 
py indeed will be this period ; and it is very observable, 
that the martyrs and confessors of Jesus, in Papist as well 
as Pagan times, will be raised to partake of this felicity. 
Then shall all those gracious promises in the Old Testa- 
ment be fulfilled — of the amplitude and extent, of the 
peace and prosperity, of the glory and happiness of the 



118 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

church in tlie latter days. Then, in the full sense of the 
words, Rev. xi. 15 : — shall the ' kingdoms of this world 
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and 
he shall reign for ever and ever.' According to tradition, 
these thousand years of the reign of Christ and the saints, 
will be the seventh Millenary of the world: for as God 
created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh ; 
so the world, it is argued, will continue six thousand years, 
and the seventh thousand years will be the great Sab- 
batism, or holy rest to the people of God. ' One day 
(2 Peter iii. 8) is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a 
thousand years as one day.' According to tradition, too, 
these thousand years of the reign of Christ and the saints, 
are the great day of judgment, in the morning or beginning 
whereof, shall be the coming of Christ in flaming fire, and 
the particular judgment of Antichrist and the first resur- 
rection ; and in the evening or conclusion whereof, shall be 
the Greneral Resurrection of the dead, small and great ; and 
they shall be judged, every man according to their works." 

This is a just representation of the Millennium, accord- 
ing to the common opinion entertained of it, that Christ 
will reign personally on earth during the period of one 
thousand years. But Dr. Whitby, in a Dissertation on the 
subject ; Dr. Priestley in his Institutes of Religion ; and 
the author of the Illustration of Prophecy, contend against 
the literal interpretation of the Millennium, both as to its 
nature and duration. On such a topic, however, we can- 
not suggest our opinions with too great a degree of modesty. 

Dr. Priestley, entertaining an exalted idea of the advan- 
tages to which our nature may be destined, treats the 
limitation of the duration of the world to seven thousand 
years as a Rabbinical fable ; and intimates that the thou- 
sand years may be interpreted prophetically : then every 
day would signify a year, and the Millennium would last 
for three hundred and sixty-five thousand years. Again 
he supposes that there will be no resurrection of any indi- 
viduals till the general resurrection ; and that the Millen- 
nium implies only the revival of rational religion. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 119 



HUMANITAKIANS. 

This term has been applied to those who deny the di- 
vinity of Christ, and assert him to have been a mere man. 
This, however, is more than the word properly signifies, 
and the term Psilanthropist, or Humanitarian, has been 
suggested as conveying the idea more accurately. 

One of the ablest of modern Humanitarians is the Rev. 
Theodore Parker, minister of a Unitarian church in Bos- 
ton, Mass. The following extracts from one of his dis- 
courses will convey some idea of his views : 

^^ Alas ! what men call Christianity, and adore as the best 
thing they see, has been degraded ; so that if men should 
be all that the pulpit commonly demands of them, they 
would by no means be Christians. To such a pass have 
matters reached, that if Paul should come upon the earth 
now, as of old, it is quite doubtful that he could be ad- 
mitted to the Christian church ; for though Felix thought 
much knowledge had made the Apostle mad, yet Paul 
ventured no opinion on points respecting the nature of 
God and the history of Christ, where our pulpits utter 
dogmatic and arbitrary decisions, condemning as infidels 
and accursed all such as disagree therewith, be their life 
never so godly. These things are notorious. Still more, 
it may be set down as quite certain, that if Jesus could 
return from the other world, and bring to New England 
that same boldness of inquiry which he brought to Judea ; 
that same love of living truth, and scorn of dead letters ; 
could he speak as he then spoke, and live again as he 
lived before, he also would be called an infidel by the 
church ; be abused in our newspapers, for such is our 
wont, and only not stoned in the streets, because that is 
not our way of treating such men as tell us the truth. 

" Such is the Christianity of the church in our times. 
It does not look forward but hachward. It does not ask 
truth at first hand from God ; seeks not to lead men di- 
rectly to him, through the divine life, but only to make 



120 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

them walk in the old paths trodden hj some good, pious 
Jews, who, were thej to come back to earth, could as 
little understand our circumstances as we theirs. The 
church expresses more concern that men should walk in 
these peculiar paths, than that they should reach the goal. 
Thus the means are made the end. It enslaves men to 
the Bible ; makes it the soul's master, not its servant ; 
forgetting that the Bible, like the Sabbath, was made 
for man, not man for the Bible. It makes man the less 
and the Bible the greater. The Saviour said. Search the 
Scriptures ; the Apostle recommended them as profitable 
reading ; the church says. Believe the Scriptures, if not 
with the consent of reason and conscience, why without 
that consent or against it. It rejects all attempts to hu- 
manize the Bible, and separate its fictions from its facts; 
and would fain wash its hands in the heart's blood of 
those who strip the robe of human art, ignorance, or folly, 
from the celestial form of divine truth. It trusts the im- 
perfect Scripture of the Word, more than the Word it- 
self, writ by God's finger on the living heart. 

'' The church itself worships not God, who is all in' 
all, but Jesus, a man born of woman. Grave teachers, 
in defiance of his injunction, bid us pray to Christ. It 
supposes the soul of our souls cannot hear, or will not 
accept a prayer, unless ofiered formally, in the church's 
phrase, forgetting that we also are men, and God takes 
care of oxen and sparrows, and hears the young ravens 
when they cry, though they pray not in any form or 
phrase. Still, called by whatever name, called by an 
idol's name, the true God hears the living prayer. And 
yet perhaps the best feature of Christianity, as it is now 
preached, is its idolatrous worship of Christ. Jesus was 
the brother of all. He had more in common with all 
men, than they have with one another. But he, the 
brother of all, has been made to appear as the master of 
all : to speak with an authority greater than that of Rea- 
son, Conscience, and Faith ; — an office his sublime and 
Godlike spirit would revolt at. But yet, since he lived 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 121 

divine on the earth, and was a hero of the soul, and the 
noblest and largest hero the world has ever seen, perhaps 
the idolatry that is paid him is the nearest approach to 
true worship, which the mass of men can readily make 
in these days. Reverence for heroes has its place in his- 
tory ; and though worship of the greatest soul ever 
swathed in the flesh, however much he is idolized and 
represented as incapable of sin, is without measure be- 
low the worship of the ineffable God ; still it is the purest 
and best of our many idolatries of the nineteenth century. 
Practically speaking, its worst feature is, that it mars and 
destroys the highest ideal of man, and makes us beings of 
very small discourse, that look only backward. 

" The influence of real Christianity is to disenthral the 
man ; to restore him to his nature, until he obeys Con- 
science, Reason, and Religion, and is made free by that 
obedience. It gives him the largest liberty of the Sons 
of God, so that as faith in truth becomes deeper, the man 
is greater and more divine. But now those pious souls 
who accept the church's Christianity are, in the main, 
crushed and degraded by their faith. They dwindle daily 
in the church's keeping. Their worship is not Faith, but 
Fear ; and Bondage is written legibly on their forehead, 
like the mark set upon Cain. They resemble the dwarfed 
creed they accept. Their mind is encrusted with unin- 
telligible dogmas. They fear to love man, lest they offend 
God. Artificial in their anxiety, and morbid in their self- 
examination, their life is sickly and wretched. Con* 
science cannot speak its mother tongue to them ; Reason 
does not utter its oracles ; nor love cast out fear. Alas, 
the church speaks not to the hearty and the strong ; and 
the little and the weak, who accept its doctrines, become 
weaker and less thereby. Thus woman's holier heart is 
often abased and defiled, and the deep-thoughted and true 
of soul forsake the church, as righteous Lot, guided by 
an angel, fled out of Sodom. There will always be 
wicked men who scorn a pure church, and perhaps great 
men too high to need its instructions. But what shall 



122 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

we say when the church, as it is, impoverishes those it 
was designed to enrich, and debilitates so often the trust- 
ing souls that seek shelter in its arms ? 

" Alas for us ! we see the Christianity of the church is a 
very poor thing ; a very little better than heathenism. It 
takes God out of the world of nature and of man, and 
hides him in the church. Nay it does worse ; it limits 
God, who possesses heaven and earth, and is from ever- 
lasting to everlasting, restricting his influence and inspira- 
tion to a little corner of the world, and a few centuries of 
history, dark and uncertain. Even in this narrow range, 
it makes a deity like itself, and gives us not God, but Je- 
hovah. It takes the living Christ out of the heart, and 
transfigures him in the clouds ; till he becomes an anoma- 
lous being, not God, and not man ; but a creature whose 
holiness is not the divine image he has sculptured for him- 
self out of the rock of life, but something placed over him 
entirely by God's hand, and without his own effort. It 
has taken away our Lord, and left us a being whom we 
know not ; severed from us by his prodigious birth, and 
his alleged relation to God, such as none can share. 
What have we in common with such an one, raised above 
all chance of error, all possibility of sin, and still more 
surrounded by God at each moment, as no other man has 
been ? It has transferred him to the clouds. It makes 
Christianity a Belief, not a Life. It takes religion out of 
the world, and shuts it up in old books, whence, from 
time to time, on Sabbaths, and fast days, and feast days — 
it seeks to evoke the divine Spirit, as the witch of Endor 
is fabled to have called up Samuel from the dead. It tells 
you, with grave countenance, to believe every word spo- 
ken by the Apostles— weak, Jewish, fallible, prejudiced, 
mistaken as they sometimes were — for this reason, be- 
cause forsooth Peter's shadow, and Paul's pocket hand- 
kerchief, cured the lame and the blind. It never tells you. 
Be faithful to the spirit God has given ; open your souls 
and you also shall be inspired, beyond Peter and Paul it 
may be, for great though they were, they saw not all 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 12S 

things, and have not absorbed the Godhead. No doubt the 
Christian church has been the ark of the world. No 
doubt some individual churches are now free from these 
disgraces ; still the picture is true as a whole. 

" The Christianity of the Church is a very poor thing ; 
it is not bread, and it is not drink. The Christianity of 
Society is still worse ; it is bitter in the mouth, and poison 
in the blood. Still men are hungering and thirsting, 
though not always knowingly, after the true bread of life. 
Why shall we perish with hunger ? In our Father's house 
is enough and to spare. The Christianity of Christ is 
high and noble as ever. The religion of Reason, of the 
Soul, the Word of God, is still strong and flame-like, as 
when first it dwelt in Jesus, the chiefest incarnation of 
God, and now the pattern-man. Age has not dimmed the 
lustre of this light that lighteneth all, though they cover 
their eyes in obstinate perversity, and turn away their 
faces from this great sight. Man has lost none of his 
God-likeness. He is still the child of God, and the father 
is near to us as to him who dwelt in his bosom. Conscience 
has not left us. Faith and hope still abide ; and love 
never fails. The Comforter is with us ; and though the 
man Jesus no longer blesses the earth, the ideal Christ, 
formed in the heart, is with us to the end of the world. 
Let us, then, build on these. Use good words when we 
can find them, in the church or out of it. Learn to pray, 
to pray greatly and strong ; learn to reverence what is 
highest ; above all learn to live ; to make Religion daily 
work, and Christianity our common life. All days shall 
then be the Lord's day ; our homes the house of God, and 
our labour the ritual of Religion. Then we shall not glory 
in men, for all things shall be ours ; we shall not be im- 
poverished by success, but enriched by affliction. Our 
service shall be worship, not idolatry. The burthens of 
the Bible shall not overlay and crush us ; its wisdom shall 
make us strong, and its piety enchant us. Paul and Jesus 
shall not be our masters, but elder brothers, who open the 
pearly gates of truth, and cheer us on, leading us to the 



124 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Tree of Life. We shall find the Kingdom of Heaven and 
enjoy it now, not waiting till death ferries us over to the 
other world. We shall then repose beside the rock of 
ages, smitten by divine hands, and drink the pure water 
of life as it flows from the Eternal, to make earth green 
and glad. We shall serve no longer a bond-slave to tradi- 
tion, in the leprous host of sin, but become freemen, by 
the law and spirit of life. Thus like Paul we shall form 
the Christ within ; and, like Jesus, serving and knowing 
God directly, with no mediator intervening, become one 
with him. Is not this worth a man's wish ; worth his 
prayers ; worth his work, to seek the living Christianity ; 
the Christianity of Christ ? Not having this we seem but 
bubbles, — bubbles on an ocean, shoreless and without bot- 
tom ; bubbles that sparkle a moment in the sun of life, 
then burst to be no more. But with it we are men, im- 
mortal souls, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." 

THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church, both in England 
and in the United States, is one of the most important 
which exists in either of those countries ; its only rival in 
influence, wealth, and eminence, being the great Presbyte- 
rian body, strictly so called. The origin of the Episcopal 
Church dates from the sixteenth century ; and it took its 
rise in England when that licentious man and tyrannical 
monarch, Henry VIII., swayed the sceptre of that realm. 
Henry YIII., as is well known, indulged himself with six 
wives, several of whom he executed, as the most conve- 
nient means of getting rid of them, when they were no 
longer able to gratify or attract his fickle passion. When 
the Pope refused to grant him a divorce from Catherine 
of Arragon, Henry first conceived the idea of throwing 
ofi" the papal influence and power in his kingdom ; and the 
charms of Anne Boleyn deserve the praise of having been 
the real cause of the introduction of the Reformation into 
England. The Pope excommunicated Henry on account 




Rkv. William White, D.D., Bishop of Protkstant 
Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 125 

i>f his marriage with that lady ; and the breach which was 
thus begun was eventually widened and made irreparable 
by the violent acts of resistance to the papal power, and 
innovations in ecclesiastical matters, which the King and 
his ministers afterward continued. 

These events began in 1534. Cranmer was the chief 
agent of Henry in reforming the English Church and 
making i anti-Romish in doctrine, ceremony, and disci- 
pline. When Henry died, in 1547, the work thus begun 
was very incomplete ; but during the short reign of his 
son and successor, Edward VI., the Reformation was car- 
ried on energetically. This prince was pious, amiable, and 
intelligent. He invited men from abroad who were dis- 
tinguished for learning and personal merit, and also for 
their attachment to the doctrines of the Reformation, that 
they might remove to England and use their influence in 
spreading the reformed faith in his dominions. Among 
these men were the celebrated Martin Bucer and Paul 
Fagius. But this career was prematurely terminated by 
the death of Edward in 1553, when he was succeeded by 
his sister Mary, the daughter of Catherine of Arragon, 
Henry's first wife. This princess was a Roman Catholic. 
Her own disposition was extremely despotic and cruel, 
and she exerted all her influence to restore the Roman 
Catholic Church to its pristine power and supremacy 
throughout her dominions. To accomplish this result, bar- 
barous tortures and even death were used as means of 
coercion. Among the persons who sufiered from the per- 
secutions of this relentless bigot, were Archbishop Cran- 
mer, and the good Bishop Latimer. The former of these, 
however, deserved little pity, for he was nothing better 
than a deceitful and unprincipled courtier, who had him- 
self burnt several Roman Catholics during the reign of 
Edward VI., when he was in power ; and, though his name 
is prominent in the history of the Anglican Church, he 
was one of the most time-serving, ambitious, and contemp- 
tible of men, who in fact richly deserved his ultimate fatOr 

Queen Mary, whom the Protestants generally call 



126 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

"Bloody Mary,"- died in 1558, and she was succeeded by 
the great Elizabeth, a daughter of Henry YIII., under 
whose reign the Reformation of the Church of England was 
completed. This monarch delighted to be called the 
"Virgin Queen," and her virginity is alleged by her ad- 
mirers to have continued during a lengthy reign of nearly 
half a century; but those who scrutinized her conduct 
with impartiality and sagacity, assert that her lovers were 
numerous, and her intrigues with her favorites continual. 
Yet she had the cunning to conceal the proofs of her in- 
dulgences, in a great measure, from the notice of her co- 
temporaries, and to maintain the rigid semblance of virtue 
as far as her external conduct was concerned. During 
the reign of Elizabeth, the English Church was completely 
separated from the authority of the Church of Rome. 
Her mass was abolished, though the English Prayer Book, 
which was then prepared and introduced into all the 
churches of the establishment, is in a great measure com- 
posed of the prayers of the Roman Catholic Mass, trans- 
lated into English. A very large proportion of the rites 
and ceremonies of the Papal Church were abolished ; 
among them were auricular or secret confession, the celi- 
bacy of the clergy, extreme unction, the use of tapers in 
churches, prayers in Latin; and the sacraments were re- 
duced from seven to two, though a number of the chief 
holidays and feasts of the Catholic Church, such as Christ- 
mas, Easter, and Lent, were retained. Elizabeth loved 
pomp and splendor in public worship, as she did in every- 
thing else ; and this taste of hers gave form and character 
to the Anglican Church, which was firmly and permanently 
established in England during her reign. She was a 
princess of superior ability ; but she was selfish, vain, de- 
ceitful, ambitious, and cruel. The great stain which will for- 
ever deform her character, and pollute it through everlasting 
ages with a crimson hue, which not all the waters of great 
Neptune's ocean can wash away, was her judicial murder 
of Mary, Queen of Scots, for whose execution she could 
show no just reason whatever. Even though Mary, had 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 127 

approved of conspiracies which her friends had formed 
against Elizabeth, those conspiracies were only devised 
and contemplated after the English Queen had deprived 
her of her liberty, and of all hope of regaining it, thus 
justifying her in attempting by all possible means to escape 
from the deadly grasp of her adversary. 

The Protestant Church in England remains to this day, 
very much as Elizabeth left it. The doctrines which it 
teaches are those known as the Thirty-nine Articles, the 
contents of which we will enumerate hereafter, as being 
the same which are held by the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in this country. The form of government is a 
hierarchy, being composed not only of three orders in 
the ministry — deacons, presbyters or priests, and bish- 
ops — but she has also two archbishops, those of Canter- 
bury and York. The former of these is the Primate of 
all England, and possesses an extent of power, and dis- 
plays a degree of splendor, little in harmony with the 
poverty and simplicity of the primitive apostles and first 
teachers of the Christian faith. 

The first Episcopalians who ever existed in the United 
States were members of the colony of Virginia, and the 
first church of this sect in this country was built at James- 
town, in that colony, in 160T. The rector's name was 
Hurst. In 1610, he was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Buck. 
Several years afterward, other parishes were established 
in the vicinity of Jamestown, and other English clergy- 
men came over to supply their spiritual wants. After the 
lapse of a century, about the year 1720, there were more 
than fifty Episcopal churches in Virginia. At the era of the 
Revolution these had increased to the number of a hundred 
in Virginia alone. During the Revolution many of the 
churches fell into decay, and were abandoned, so that at 
the present time their number does not much exceed those 
which then existed. 

The first English Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania 
was built in Philadelphia about the year 1685. It is nar- 
rated as an extraordinary fact that, in 1700, the Rev. Mr. 



128 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Evans, a missionary of the Churcli of England, performed 
the prodigious feat of converting five hundred Quakers to 
the church within the short space of two years ; in refer- 
ence to which achievement we would here observe, that the 
"Friends" must have been much less tenacious of their 
peculiar opinions then, than they have generally been 
since. After the Revolution, there were but six Episco- 
pal clergymen and fifteen parishes in Pennsylvania. The 
successive bishops who have exercised the functions of the 
Episcopate in this State have been as follows : Dr. Wm. 
"White, who was consecrated on the 4th of February, 1787, 
and died in 1836; Dr. H. U. Onderdonk, who was conse- 
crated Assistant Bishop on the 25th of October, 1827, 
was superseded for dram-drinking on the 21st of October, 
1844, and died in 1858 ; and Dr. Alonzo Potter, who was 
consecrated on the 23d of September, 1845. 

Several of the Protestant Episcopal Churches in Dela- 
ware are of very ancient date. Delaware did not become 
a separate State till 1704 ; and from that period till the 
Revolution several of those churches continued to exist 
dependent on supplies of clergymen from Pennsylvania. 
In 1817, there remained but two clergymen of this sect in 
that State. In 1844, the parishes were seventeen, and the 
clergy ten. On the 12th of October, 1841, Rev. Alfred 
Lee was consecrated Bishop of the diocese. 

In Maryland, the first church of this denomination was 
erected in 1675. In 1692, the whole colony contained 
thirty-one parishes. For many years the Roman Catholic 
Church was the dominant power in the State ; though the 
utmost religious freedom was granted by them, as long 
as they remained in the majority. In 1792, the num- 
ber of Protestant Episcopal parishes in the State was about 
forty. In 1844, their number had increased to about one 
hundred. The first Bishop of the church in Maryland 
was Rev. T. J. Clagget, who was consecrated in Septem- 
ber, 1792. After him succeeded Bishops Kemp, Stone, 
and Whittingham. The last was consecrated in Septem- 
ber, 1840. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELiaiONS. 129 

In Massachusetts tlie Episcopal Churcli took its rise at 
ftn early period, the first congregation being gathered there 
in 1679. The churches grew in number until after the 
era of the Revolution, when the mysterious and potent 
rise of the Unitarian faith gradually persuaded the more 
learned and intelligent portion of the community in Bos- 
ton and its vicinity, and both clergymen and people avowed 
themselves believers in the new faith, and severed their 
"connection with the old. By this means, also, some of 
the church edifices became alienated from the Episcopal 
service, and were devoted to the use and occupation of 
Unitarian clergymen. The history of "King's Chapel," 
one of the oldest churches in Boston, is an illustration of 
this remark. Four Bishops have successively presided in 
the diocese of Massachusetts — Drs. Bass, Parker, Griswold, 
and Eastburn ; the last having been consecrated in De- 
cember, 1842. In 1844, the number of parishes under 
his jurisdiction was forty-eight ; the number of clergymen 
was sixty. 

It is in the State of New York that the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in this country has flourished most exten- 
sively. The first parish was formed in New York city, in 
1697, the Rev. Mr. Vesey being the rector. He continued 
to perform the duties of his office during the amazing 
period of more than fifty years. In 1752, there were 
twenty parishes in the colony, and they grew rapidly. 
By the bounty of Queen Anne, a very large amount of 
property was conferred on Trinity parish, in the city of 
New York, which increased in value from year to year, 
until now it amounts to the sum of many millions. A 
large portion of the surplus revenue of this bloated and 
opulent corporation has been spent in building churches, 
and in assisting feeble parishes throughout the State of 
New York — thus contributing to the increase of churches. 
In 1838, it was found necessary to divide the diocese into 
tkose of Eastern and Western New York. In 1844, the 
number of parishes in Eastern New York was one hundred 
and sixty-four ; those of Western, were one hundred and 
9 



130 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Sixteen. The whole number of clergymen in the State, at 
that time, was three hundred. New York has had six 
Bishops — Drs. Provost, Moore, Hobart, B. T. Onderdonk^ 
(suspended in Jan. 1845, also for dram-drinking,) Potter, 
and De Lancey — the last of whom officiates in the diocese 
of Western New York. He is the only bishop consecrated 
there since the separation. In the city and State of New 
York, this sect are very greatly superior to all others in 
influence and wealth. The enormous resources of Trinity 
Church have aided very effectually in producing this re- 
sult ; and it cannot be denied, in spite of all the slanders 
and the opposition which that church has had to endure, 
that its means have generally been expended in a judicious 
and commendable manner. 

The first Episcopal Church in New Jersey was founded 
by the Rev. John Talbot, in 1705. After the lapse of 
fifty years, the number of parishes amounted to only six- 
teen, and the clergy to eight. In 1844, the parishes were 
forty-six, and the clergy fifty. The church has never 
flourished very much in this State, in consequence of the 
operation of several unfavorable influences. She has been 
unfortunate in the choice of at least one of the two bishops 
who have exercised their episcopal functions there. Rev. 
John Croes was consecrated in November, 1815, and died 
in 1832. His successor was the well-known Dr. George 
W. Doane, who was consecrated on the 31st of October, 
1832. Two of his consecrators were Bishop Onderdonk, 
of New York, who was afterward deposed, and Bishop 
Ives, of South Carolina, vfho has since become a convert 
to the church of Rome. 

This sect claims to be intensely orthodox ; and their 
views are, of that character, according to the generally 
prevalent estimate of what orthodoxy is. This term " or- 
thodox," which simply means sounds or true in the faith, 
is arrogated to themselves by certain denominations of 
Christians, just as the epithet Catholic is appropriated 
by others ; but the mere assumption of this title is no evi- 
dence, in itself, of the truth or the falsehood of the doc- 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 131 

trines whicli are identified with it. Orthodoxy is in reality 
very often, thougli not ahvajs, tlie indication of extreme 
conservatism, sometimes of superstition and belief in theo- 
ries which are abhorrent to. enlightened reason and the 
dictates of common sense. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church teaches the doctrine 
of the Trinity, or the existence of three coequal persons 
in one God. As this doctrine is well understood by most 
readers, it is unnecessary for us to dwell upon it. This 
Church further holds, that the Scriptures contain all that 
is necessary to salvation. By the Scriptures are meant 
the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, to 
the exclusion of those writings which are regarded as un- 
canonical or apocryphal. Yet, though this is the authorized 
theory of the Church, the^ are two ways in which Epis- 
copalians apparently contradict it. One way is that in 
which the more enthusiastic members of the Church rever- 
ence and magnify the Prayer Book, which is chiefly a 
translation from the Roman Missal ; and it is also well 
known that the Prayer Book was ordained to be used in 
churches, together with the Book of Homilies, because in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the priests in England were 
generally so ignorant, and many of them so dissolute, that 
they could neither preach nor pray without having the book 
before them. The other way by which the plenary inspira- 
tion andsufficiency of the Scriptures are practically nullified, 
is by the opinion of many of the clergymen of the Church, 
that the traditions of the primitive Fathers are, after all, 
of great use, and in some instances absolutely indispensa- 
ble, to a proper understanding of the meaning of Scrip- 
4nire. 

This Church believes in the total and absolute fall of the 
whole human family, in the fall of Adam. In Eden, the 
progenitor of the human race was perfectly pure, holy, 
upright ; both mind, soul, and body, were perfect and fault- 
less in every respect. He fell by transgressing the Divine 
command not to touch that tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil ; and by his fall not only did his ojvn nature, bcth 



132 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

intellectually and morally, become totally, radically, and 
thorouglily corrupt, incapable of thinking a good thought, 
or doing anything save what was detestably wicked ; but with 
Adam his whole race fell also, and by inheriting his wicked 
nature, incurred the penalties which that nature deserved. 
In other words, Adam was the federal or representative 
head of all his descendants ; they are responsible for what 
he did, and are fated to suffer for it ; though possibly, had 
they been there to counsel and advise, they might have 
done their utmost to persuade the progenitor of the human 
race not to transgress the divine command. But coming 
afterward into the world, they are compelled to take it 
precisely as they find it. 

Our readers are aware that the whole system of Ortho- 
dox Christianity hinges arourfl the Remedy which God 
has provided for the purpose of curing the miseries and 
calamities produced by the fall of Adam. In other words, 
the atonement made by Christ, the second Adam, is the 
means which God has devised in order to rescue the human 
family from the consequences of the fall. Sects differ _ 
very materially on this head, as to the nature of the atone- 
ment and its extent. There are two parties or divisions 
on the subject, one of whom believe that the atonement 
of Christ, his sufferings and death, were intended for the 
benefit and actual use of the whole human family ; while 
the other school teach that the benefits and efficacy of 
Christ's death are confined to a predestined few. In the 
Protestant Episcopal Church there has always been a di- 
vision on this subject ; and both of these theories have pre- 
vailed among the clergy and laity. The High Church, 
from the time of Archbishop Laud down to the present 
time, have always been Arminian : that is, they believe 
that Christ died for the redemption of the whole world ; 
that all may be saved who choose to repent and believe ; 
and that all who hear the Gospel possess the power, within 
themselves, to repent and believe. They do not believe 
to the same enormous extent in the total ruin and deprav- 
ity of human i^ture ; but think that man still possesses 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 133 

the power and freedom of his will to a degree which is 
necessary to enable him freely to accept or to reject the 
oiFers of the Gospel. They contend that where there is 
no freedom of choice and of action, there can certainly be 
no responsibility ; and that where there is no responsibil- 
ity, there can be no guilt or innocence, and therefore no 
real desert, either of future reward or punishment. 

The Low Church party, however, have always held the 
doctrine of Calvin in its strictest sense, believing that the 
real effectual purpose of the atonement is limited to an 
elect few, who are predestinated from all eternity to be 
saved ; and who, therefore, if the purpose of (xod con- 
cerning them is not to be defeated, mu8t inevitahly repent, 
in order to become worthy of the salvation which they 
will hereafter enjoy. This school holds to the total de- 
pravity and utter ruin of man's nature by the fall ; and 
teaches that no man can make the least effort or motion 
towards repentance or piety, by his own unassisted 
strength. Consequently the elect are those whom Grod 
chooses as the objects of his partial favor ; and by irre- 
sistibly impelling them to repentance and faith, fulfils his 
benevolent decree of salvation concerning them. 

According to the teachings of this church, justification 
is produced solely by the merits of Christ applied to the 
believer. Yet good works are greatly commended ; and a 
zealous Episcopalian is generally expected to show his 
piety and zeal by very liberal donations to his church, and 
by very industrious devotion to all the rites, ceremonies, 
and observances, which form a prominent part of her pub- 
lic worship. 

This church believes in two sacraments — Baptism and 
the Lord's Supper. In baptizing, sprinkling is used, 
though it is admitted by many of the leading theologians 
of the sect that the primitive mode of administering the 
ordinance was by immersion. In the Lord's Supper, the 
consecrated emblems, bread and wine, are regarded with 
great reverence. It is in regard to this matter of the sacra- 
ments that this church more nearly approximates to the 



134 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Church of Rome ; inasmuch as these rites are regarded 
with a degree of mysterious and solemn consequence, 
which to a still greater extent is prevalent in the Catholic 
Church. By the Episcopal Church, Baptism is regarded 
as a proof of the election of the baptized in Christ, to 
eternal life ; an evidence of their adoption as sons of God, 
of their being ingrafted into the body of Christ, and a 
sure guarantee of pardon, regeneration, and ultimately of 
salvation. This is the extreme High Church view. 

In regard to the presence of the body and blood of 
Christ in the Eucharist, the prevalent theory is, that his 
body and blood are present really and truly, though they 
are in a spiritual manner presented to and received by the 
communicant ; or he receives the body and blood of Christ 
objectively, from without himself, and subjectively, that is, 
by faith within himself. The effects and the benefit of the 
Lord's Supper are regarded as of great importance ; for 
as by Baptism the spiritual life of the recipient is begun, so 
by the Supper it is nourished, strengthened, and perpetu-^ 
ated, till it culminates at last in the attainment of eter- 
nal life. 

The doctrine concerning tlie church is a prominent one 
with Episcopalians. The church is the whole number and 
body of the faithful, of whom Christ is the head and 
centre ; the members of which are the heirs of the salva- 
tion procured by him ; to whom all the promises of the 
Gospel belong ; to whom the sacraments and benefits of 
the new covenant appertain ; who have the true apostolical 
succession and ministry, and with whom Christ has pro- 
mised to be and to remain until the end of the world. 
According to this theory, those who are not members of 
the church are aliens, and have no claims to the benefits 
of the Gospel nor any hope of future salvation ; and as 
the Protestant Episcopal Church is the church, the plain 
English of the doctrine held by this sect is simply that all 
those who are not Protestant Episcopalians are excluded 
from the kingdom of heaven. 

Uncharitable and detestable as this conceit may be, it is 



HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 135 

really and practically held by the High Church faction. 
The late Bishop George W. Doane, for instance, strenu- 
ously taught it. It has long been a complaint which 
has with justice been urged against a portion of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal sect that they, an exceedingly small mi- 
nority of professing Christians, unchurch the whole of the 
rest :f Christendom. 

A prominent characteristic of this church is its obser- 
vance of various rites which the majority of Protestants 
regard as of no importance. Advent is the beginning of 
the ecclesiastical year, and comprises four Sundays previ- 
ous to the 25th of December. It is used as a preparation 
for the appearance of Christ in the flesh. Christmas, or 
Nativity Day, is the next and greatest festival, as com- 
memorating the birth of Christ. This festival always oc- 
curs on the 25th of December ; whereas it is well known 
that the best and most learned chronologists assert that 
Christ, instead of being born in December, first saw the 
light of this breathing world during the summer. After 
Christmas comes St. Stephen's Day, St. John's, that of 
the Holy Innocents, the Circumcision of Christ, the Epi- 
phany or the Manifestation of Christ by the star in the 
East. Great among these ecclesiastical contrivances is 
Lent. Because our Lord fasted forty days in the wilder- 
ness, Episcopalians believe that they must imitate his ex- 
ample and punish themselves with unusual fasting, religious 
services, and other deeds of piety during a similar period. 
The first day of Lent is known by the epithet of Ash 
"Wednesday, because in primitive times Christians some- 
times sprinkled their heads with ashes. The last week of 
Lent is called Passion Week, because it commemorates the 
sufferings of Christ on the cross. Palm Sunday occurs 
during this week ; and the whole of Lent is terminated by 
Good Friday, which commemorates the crucifixion of our 
Lord. Then comes Easter Sunday, which signalizes Christ's 
resurrection. Forty days after is Ascension Day, on 
which our Lord ascended to Heaven. Ten days after that 
is Whit Sunday, which is the same as Pentecost, on which 



136 HISTORY OF ALL EELIGIONS. 

the Holy Spirit descended. The whole winds up with 
Trinity Sunday, which celebrates the existence and the 
influences and the works of the Triune God. 

It is somewhat curious that not a solitary word is said 
in the Scriptures in reference to the observance of any 
such holidays and festivals. On the contrary, Christ 
would seem to have taught a different principle of Chris- 
tian practice when he abolished and superseded the Jew- 
ish law and ritual, in which such observances are promi- 
nent and essential. On the other hand, it is urged that 
the Primitive Church ( not the Apostolical Church) observed 
these or similar festivals, and that it is well to follow their 
example and imitate their spirit. Chacun a son gout. 
Yery conclusive arguments can doubtless be urged on both 
sides of this disputed and difficult question. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States 
occupies the first rank among Christian sects for several 
important characteristics. Her members are unrivaled 
for their liberality and taste in the erection of church edifi- 
ces, and for the liberal support which, as a general thing, 
they give to their clergy. Meanness, parsimony, and 
similar defects, cannot be charged upon the members of 
this church ; at the same time they are distinguished for 
their intelligence and mental cultivation ; and were such a 
thing as an established church possible in this land of 
equality and freedom, it is certain that this church would 
be admirably adapted to such a high and ambitious rela- 
tion. The clergymen of this sect are generally well edu- 
cated ; and among their literary and professional accom- 
plishments, not the least in importance is the skill with 
which they read the prayers in public worship, and the 
grace with which they often manage " to trill the r's." It is 
no small glory to this sect that, in this country, many of 
those men who have been most distinguished in the annals 
of war and of statesmanship, have belonged to it ; and by 
their private virtues and public fame have greatly increased 
its influence. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 137 



THE GREEK CHURCH. 

The Greek Churcli comprises the great bulk of the Chris- 
tian population of Russia and Greece, Moldavia and Walla- 
chia, besides various congregations scattered throughout the 
provinces of the Turkish and Austrian empires, who ac- 
knowledge the Patriarch of Constantinople as their head. 

The opinions of this church bear considerable affinity to 
those of the Latin, or Roman Catholic. The fundamental 
distinction is the rejection of the spiritual supremacy of 
St. Peter, and the denial of any visible representative of 
Christ upon earth. In the view which it takes of the 
Holy Ghost it is also at variance, not only with the Ro- 
man Catholic church, but with Protestants.* It recog- 
nizes, however, the seven sacraments ; authorizes the of- 
fering of prayer to the saints and Virgin ; and encourages 
the use of pictures, though forbidding the use of images. 
It holds in reverence, also, the relics and tombs, of holy 
men ; enjoins strict fasting and the giving of alms, looking 
upon them as works of intrinsic merit ; and numbers 
among its adherents numerous orders of monks and nuns. 
It allows, however, the marriage of its secular priests, and 
rejects auricular confession. It holds that modified form 
of the Roman doctrine of the eucharist, which is denomi- 
nated Consubstantiation ; and apparently entertains some 
confused notions of a purgatory, in consideration of which 
it offers prayers for the dead. It administers baptism by 
immersion. 

The services of this church consist almost entirely of 
ceremonial observances. 

Preaching and the reading of the Scriptures form but a 
small part of them ; the former, indeed was at one period 
altogether forbidden in Russia. 

The origin of the separation which has now prevailed 
for many hundred years between two such important sec- 

* The variation consists in the idea, that the Holy Ghost proceeds 



138 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

tions of Christendom as the Latin and Greek churches, ap- 
proaching so near as they do in many of their fundamen- 
tal principles, is to be attributed to the rival pretensions 
set up by the bishops of the two imperial cities, Rome and 
Constantinople, and dates almost from the foundation of 
the latter capital. The Roman branch continued, however, 
still powerful in the East, and the intrigues of the papal 
see were frequently successful ; until in 1054, the mutual 
excommunications pronounced upon each other by Leo IX. 
and Cerularius, caused the final separation which has con- 
tinued to the present day. 

WILKINSONIANS. 

The followers of Jemima Wilkinson, who was born in 
Cumberland, R. I. In 1776, she asserted that she was 
taken sick and actually died, and that her soul went to 
heaven. Soon after, her body was reanimated with the 
spirit and power of Christ, upon which she set up as a 
public teacher, and declared she had an immediate revela- 
tion for all she delivered, and was arrived to a state of ab-" 
solute perfection. It is also said she pretended to foretell 
future events, to discern the secrets of the heart, and to 
have the power of healing diseases ; and if any person who 
had made application to her was not healed, she attributed 
it to his want of faith. She asserted that those who re- 
fused to believe these exalted things concerning her, will 
be in the state of unbelieving Jews, who rejected the 
counsel of God against themselves ; and she told her 
hearers that was the eleventh hour, and the last call of 
mercy that ever should be granted them ; for she heard an 
inquiry in heaven, saying, " Who will go and preach to a 
dying world?" or words to that import: and she said she 
answered, "Here am I — send me;" and that she left the 
realms of light and glory, and the company of the heavenly 
host who are continually praising and worshipping God, 
in order to descend upon earth, and pass through many 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 139 

sufferings and trials for the happiness of mankind. She 
assumed the title of the universal friend of mankind'. 

Jemima made some converts in E-hode Island and New 
York, and died in 1819. She is said to have been a very 
beautiful but artful woman. 

MYSTICS. 

This denomination derived their name from their main- 
taining, that the Scriptures have a mystic and hidden 
sense, which must be sought after, in order to understand 
their true import. They derived their origin from Diony- 
sius, the Areopagite, who was converted to Christianity, 
in the first century, by the preaching of St. Paul at 
Athens. To support this idea, they attributed to this 
great man various treatises, which are generally ascribed 
to writers who lived at a later period, particularly to a 
famous Grecian Mystic, who, it is said, wrote under 
the protection of the venerable name of Dionysius, the 
Areopagite. 

This denomination appeared in the third century ; and 
increased in the fourth. In the fifth century, they gained 
ground in the eastern provinces. In the year eight hun- 
dred and twenty-four, the supposed works of Dionysius 
kindled the flame of Mysticism in the western provinces. 
In the twelfth century, they took the lead in their method 
of expounding the Scriptures. In the thirteenth century, 
they were the most formidable antagonists of the school- 
men ; and towards the close of the fourteenth century, 
they resided, and propagated their sentiments, in almost 
every part of Europe. In the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- 
turies, many persons of distinguished merit embraced their 
tenets. In the seventeenth century, the radical principle 
of Mysticism was adopted by the Behmists, Bourignon- 
ists, and Quietists. 

The ancient Mystics were distinguished by their pro- 
fessing pure, sublime, and perfect devotion, with an entire 



140 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

disinterested love of God, and by their aspiring to a state 
of passive contemplation. 

The first suggestions of these sentiments have been sup- 
posed to proceed from the known doctrine of the Platonic 
school, which was adopted by Origen and his disciples, 
that the divine nature was diffused through all human 
souls^ or, in other words, that the faculty of reason, from 
which proceeds the health and vigor of the mind, was an 
emanation from God into the human soul, and compre- 
hended in it the principles and elements of all truth, hu- 
man and divine. 

They denied that men could, by labor or study, excite 
this celestial flame in their breasts. Therefore, they dis- 
approved highly of the attempts of those, who, by defini- 
tions, abstract theorems, and profound speculations, endea- 
voured to form distinct notions of truth, and to discover its 
hidden nature. On the contrary, they maintained, that 
silence, tranquillity, repose, and solitude, accompanied 
with such acts of mortification as might tend to attenuate 
and exhaust the body, were the means, by which the hid- 
den and internal w^ord was excited to produce its latent^ 
virtues, and to instruct men in the knowl-edge of divine 
things. For thus they reasoned: 

They, who behold, with a noble contempt, all human 
affairs, who turn away their eyes from terrestrial vanities, 
and shut all the avenues of the outward senses against the 
contagious influence of an outward world, must necessa- 
rily return to God, when the spirit is thus disengaged from 
the impediments which prevent this happy union : and 
in this blessed frame, they not only enjoy inexpressible 
raptures from their communion with the Supreme Being, 
but also are invested with the inestimable privilege of con- 
templating truth undisguised, in its native purity, while 
others behold it in a vitiated and delusive form. 

The apostle tells us, that the Spirit makes intercession 
for us, &c. 'Now, if the Spirit prays in us, we must re- 
sign ourselves to its motions, and be swayed and guided 
by its impulses, by remaining in a state of mere inaction. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS 141 

As the Rev. William Law, wlio was born in 1687, makes 
a distinguished figure among the modern Mystics, a brief 
account of the outlines of his system, may perhaps be en- 
tertaining to the readers. 

He supposed that the material world was the very re- 
gion, which originally belonged to the fallen, angels. At 
length, the light and spirit of God entered into the chaos, 
and turned the angels' ruined kingdom into a paradise on 
earth. God then created man, and placed him there. 
He was made in the image of the Triune God, a living 
mirror of the divine nature, formed to enjoy communion 
with Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and live on earth, as 
the angels do in heaven. He was endowed with immor- 
tality ; so that the elements of this outward world could 
not have any power of acting on this body. But, by his 
fall, he changed the light, life, and spirit of God, for the 
light, life, and spirit of the world. He died, the very day 
of his transgression, to all the influences and operations of 
the spirit of God upon him, as we die to the influences of 
this world, when the soul leaves the body: and all the 
influences and operations of the elements of this life were 
open in him, as they are in any animal, at its birth into 
this world. He became an earthly creature, subject to the 
dominion of this outward world ; and stood only in the 
highest rank of animals. 

But the goodness of God would not leave man in this 
condition. Redemption from it was immediately granted ; 
and the bruiser of the serpent brought the life, light, and 
spirit of heaven, once more into the human nature. All 
men, in consequence of the redemption of Christ, have in 
them the first spark, or seed, of the divine life, as a trea- 
sure hidden in the centre of our souls, to bring forth, by 
degrees, a new birth of that life, which was lost in para- 
dise. No son of Adam can be lost, only by turning away 
from the Saviour within him. The only religion, which 
can save us, must be that, which can raise the light, life, 
and spirit of God, in our souls. Nothing can enter into 
the vegetable kingdom, till it has the vegetable life in it ; 



142 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

or be a member of the animal kingdom, till it has the 
animal life. Thus all nature joins with the gospel in 
affirming, that no man can enter into the kingdom of hea- 
ven, till the heavenly life is born in him. Nothing can 
be our righteousness or recovery, but the divine nature 
of Jesus Christ derived to our souls. 

The arguments, which are brought in defence of this 
system, cannot easily be abridged in such a manner, as to 
render them intelligible. Those who are fond of mystical 
writings, are referred to the works of this ingenious author. 

SIX-PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS. 

By this name are designated those, who consider that the 
imposition of hands subsequent to baptism, and generally 
on the admission of candidates into the Church, is an in- 
dispensable pre-requisite for Church membership and com- 
munion. They support their peculiar principle chiefly 
from Heb. vi. 1, 2 — " Therefore, leaving the principles of 
the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection ; not 
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, 
and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and 
of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and 
of eternal judgment." 

As these two verses contain six distinct propositions, 
one of which is the laying on of hands, these brethren 
have, from thence, acquired the name of " Six-Principle 
Baptists," to distinguish them from others, whom they 
sometimes call "Five-Principle Baptists." They have 
fourteen churches in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 

MENNONITES. 

The Mennonites were a society of Baptists in Holland, 
so called from Mennon Simonis, of Friesland, who lived in 
the sixteenth century. Some of them came to the United 
States, and settled in Pennsylvania, where a considerable 
body of them still reside. 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 143 

The fundamental maxim of this denomination is, that 
practical piety is the essence of religion, and that the 
surest mark of the true Church is the sanctity of its mem- 
bers. They advocate perfect toleration in religion, and 
exclude none — unite in pleading for toleration in religion, 
and debar none from their assemblies who lead pious 
lives, and own the Scriptures for the word of God. They 
teach that infants are not the proper subjects of baptism ; 
that ministers of the gospel ought to receive no salary ; 
and that it is not lawful to swear, or wage war, upon any 
occasion. They also maintain that the terms 'person and 
Trinity are not to be used in speaking of the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost. 

The Mennonites meet privately, and every one in the 
assembly has the liberty to speak, to expound the Scrip- 
tures, to pray, and sing. 

The Mennonites in Pennsylvania do not baptize by im- 
mersion, though they administer the ordinance to none but 
adult persons. Their common method is this : The per- 
son who is to be baptized, kneels ; the minister holds his 
hands over him, into which the deacon pours water, and 
through which it runs on the crown of the kneeling per- 
son's head ; after which follow imposition of hands and 
prayer. 

Mr. Van Beuning, the Dutch ambassador, speaking of 
these "Harmless Christians," as they choose to call them- 
selves, says : " The Mennonites are good people, and the 
most commodious to a state of any in the world ; partly, 
because they do not aspire to places of dignity ; partly, 
because they edify the community by the simplicity of 
their manners, and application to arts and industry ; and 
partly, because we need fear no rebellion from a sect who 
make it an article of their faith never to bear arms." 



DUNKERS. 

Conrad Peysel, a German Baptist, was the founder of 
the Dunkers about the year 1724. Weary of the world, 



144 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

he retired to an agreeable solitude, within fifty miles of 
Philadelphia, that he might give himself up to contempla- 
tion. Curiosity brought several of his countrymen to visit 
his retreat, and by degrees, his pious, simple, and peace- 
able manners induced others to settle near him. They 
formed a little colony of German Baptists, which they 
call Euplirata or Euphrates^ in allusion to the Hebrews, 
who used to sing psalms on the border of that river. 

This little city forms a triangle, the outside of which 
are bordered with mulberry and apple trees, planted with 
great regularity. In the middle is a very large orchard, 
and between the orchard and these ranges of trees are 
houses built of wood, three stories high, where every Bun- 
ker is left to enjoy the pleasures of his meditations with- 
out disturbance. Their number in 1777 did not exceed 
five hundred, and since that period they have not multi- 
plied greatly. They do not foolishly renounce mar- 
riage, but when married they detach themselves from the 
rest of the community and retire into another part of the 
country. 

The Dunkers lament the fall of Adam, but deny the 
imputation of his sin to posterity. They use trine im- 
mersion (dipping three times) in baptism, and employ the 
ceremony of the imposition of hands when the baptized 
are received into the church. They dress like Dominican 
friars, shaving neither head nor beard ; have difi"erent 
apartments for the sexes, and live chiefly on roots and vege- 
tables, except at their love-feast, when they eat mutton. 
It is said no bed is allowed except in case of sickness, 
having in their separate cells a bench to lie upon, and a 
block of wood for their pillow ! They deny the eternity 
of future punishment — believe that the dead have the gos- 
pel preached to them by our Saviour, and that the souls 
of the just are employed to preach the gospel to those 
who have had no revelation in this life. 

But their chief tenet is, that future happiness is only to 
be obtained by penance and outward mortification, so as 
that Jesus Christ by his meritorious sufierings .became the 




RABJF^I MOSIES M^IMO^IjD'E 



1 



HISTORY OF ALL RELiaiOI^o\ 145 

Redeemer of mankind in general, so each individual of the 
human race by a life of abstinence and restraint may work 
out his own salvation. Nay, it is said they admit of works 
of supererogation. 

They use the same form of government and the same 
discipline as other Baptists do, except that every person is 
allowed to speak in the congregation, and their best speaker 
is usually ordained to be a minister. They have also 
deacons, and deaconesses from among their ancient wid- 
ows, who may all use their gifts, and exhort at stated 
times. 

THE JEWS. 

The origin of this ancient and remarkable people is 
traced to Abraham, who was chosen by the Almighty to 
be the father and progenitor of a favorite people, to whom 
the Deity promised to reveal his law and will, in prefer- 
ence to all the rest of mankind. The moral and ceremo- 
nial laws, which were given to govern them, are contained 
in the Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses ; and these 
present one of the most remarkable systems of ethics and 
worship which the world has ever seen. The contents of 
these books refer so exclusively to matters of a temporal 
and mundane character, that many persons have doubted 
whether the Jewish Scriptures really made any reference 
to a future state after death ; and Bishop Warburton, in 
his famous work on the " Divine Legation of Moses," ae- 
nies that any such doctrine was known to Moses or his 
successors. 

The history of the Jewish people till the time of Christ 
is contained, to some extent, in several books of the Old 
Testament. When the Messiah came, they were divided 
into several religious sects : the Pharisees, who placed the 
substance and value of their religion in external forms 
and ceremonies , the Sadducees, who were remarkable for 
their incredulity ; and the Essenes, who were distinguished 
by their austere sanctity. These sects are referred to in 
10 



146 x'TSTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

the New Testament. In more modern times, tlie Jews are 
divided into two classes : the Caraites, who admit no rule 
in religious matters except the strict letter of the law of 
Moses ; and the Rabbinists, who add to the law the traditions 
and comments of the Talmud. 

The capture of Jerusalem by Titus, and the first dis* 
persion of the Jews after the advent of Christ, occurred 
A. D. 70. From that day till the present they have wan- 
dered over the face of the w^hole earth, and have existed 
in many countries under various circumstances. They still 
look for the advent and appearance of the promised Mes- 
siah. The fact that their ancestors w^ere the persons who 
inflicted death upon Christ, has made them the subjects of 
unjust persecution in almost all Christian countries ; and 
nowhere do they enjoy the same degree of religious free- 
dom and the just and inalienable rights of man, so fully 
and impartially as in the United States. 

The first Jews who ever existed in this country became 
residents of New York, then called New Amsterdam, about 
the year 1660. They were Portuguese and Spanish Jews, 
who had fled in the first instance from the cruelties of jfche 
Inquisition, in their native country, to the comparative 
security of the Batavian Republic ; and there becoming 
acquainted with the greater benefits of a residence in the 
United States, removed afterwards to New York. They 
gradually increased, and eventually built a small syna- 
gogue for themselves. Several generations elapsed before 
\]fY attained to any great numbers, for till 1827 one place 
of w Tship sufficed for all their community. At that time 
a second building was erected. At present the city of 
New York contains the largest Jewish community which 
exists in this country, and ten synagogues are necessary for 
their use. They there number about ten thousand persons ; 
and particular localities, such as Chatham street, are in a 
great measure occupied by them, either as residences or 
places of business. 

After New York, one of the oldest Jewish communities 
which exist in this country was assembled in Newport, 



HISTORY or ALL RELIGIONS. 147 

Rhode Island, where there are still a synagogue and a 
burying ground. About the same period (1780) the first 
Jews began to settle in Philadelphia, and in several places 
in Maryland and Virginia. Only one State in the con- 
federacy is tyrannical enough to withhold the fullest re- 
ligious freedom and equality from Israelites, and that is 
one of the poorest and the least enlightened of them. In 
North Carolina the Constitution of the State forbids Jews 
the privileges of citizens, and to some extent restricts 
their worship. 

In the United States the Jewish congregations are not 
governed by the same regulations, nor by the same eccle- 
siastical authorities, that prevail in Europe. There are in 
reality no Rabbis in this country, though the title is some- 
times given by way of compliment. Each congregation is in 
a great measure free, makes its own rules and regulations, 
chooses its own minister, and his ordination consists in 
his election and induction into office, without any other 
ceremony. The Jews have no literary institutions here, 
devoted to the giving of instructions to their peculiar 
tenets. But they have several charitable establishments, 
which are liberally endowed. They have a religious peri- 
odical called the Occident and American Jewish Advocate. 

In Europe many of the most eminent persons in modern 
times, in various departments of intellectual labor, have 
been Jews. In the German Universities some of the most 
learned of their linguists are members of this community. 
The celebrated church historian, Neander, was a Jew by 
birth, though he afterwards became a Christian. With 
the eminence of the Rothschilds in the department of 
finance, every one is familiar. The Jews of all classes are 
generally well read in the Hebrew language, and many of 
them in Hebrew literature. Prominent among their theo- 
logical writings is the Talmud, already referred to. This 
is in substance a collection of doctrines and moral pre- 
cepts. There are two works which bear this name, the 
"Talmud of Jerusalem," and the "Talmud of Babylon." 
The former is more ancient, but it is shorter and more ob- 



148 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

scure thai, the latter, which is clearer, more extensive, 
and is generally more highly valued by the Jews. 

As an illustration of the horrible cruelties to which 
these people have been subjected even in recent times, we 
may adduce the following instances : Dr. Grant relates 
that, during his residence at Ooroomiah, in Persia, in 
1840, a Jew was publicly burnt to death in that city, by 
order of the Governor, on the charge of killing the child- 
ren of the Gentiles to obtain their blood to mingle with 
the bread of the Passover. Naphtha was poured over the 
body of the poor wretch, and the torch applied. He was 
instantly enveloped in flames, and died in the greatest 
agonies. In Meshed, another city of Persia, the same ac- 
cusation was preferred against the Jews who resided at 
that place in 1839, in consequence of the mysterious dis- 
appearance of a Mahometan child. The inhabitants re- 
solved upon the entire extirpation of the Jews in the 
place. The massacre began, and fifteen of them were 
slain. The rest, to avoid the same fate, embraced the al- 
ternative oJBTered them of becoming Mahometans — with 
how much sincerity or admiration for their new faith, may 
readily be conceived. 

The number of Jews throughout the world is not far 
from five millions. In the United States they do not ex- 
ceed seventy thousand. They have synagogues in New 
York, Philadelphia, Newport, Charleston, Baltimore, 
Wheeling, Savannah, New Orleans, Cincinnati, St. Louis, 
and a few other places. There are a million of them in 
Poland and Russia ; half a million in Austria ; a million 
in the Barbary States ; and other large communities exist 
in the chief countries in Europe. It is a curious circum- 
stance that the Catholic inhabitants of Spain and Portugal, 
who formerly persecuted the Jews with such horrid bar- 
barity, are themselves the descendants of Jews, of those 
colonies which went forth from Palestine in the reign of 
Solomon, and paid tribute to that monarch. 

The religious belief of the Orthodox Jews does not 
change. It may be stated as follows, in the language of 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 149 

the creed, whicli was drawn up for their use by Maimoni- 
des, an illustrious Rabbi, who lived in the eleventh 
century : 

" I. I believe, with a true and perfect faith, that Grod 
is the Creator, whose name be blessed. Governor and 
Maker of all creatures, and that he hath wrought all 
things, worketh, and shall work forever. 

" II. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Creator, 
whose name be blessed, is one, and that such a unity as is in 
him can be found in none other, and that he alone hath 
been our God, is, and forever shall be. 

" III. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Creator, 
whose name be blessed, is not corporeal, nor to be compre- 
hended with any bodily property, and that there is no 
bodily essence that can be likened unto him. 

" IV. I believe, with a perfect faith, the Creator, whose 
name be blessed, to be the first and the last, that nothing 
was before him, and that he shall abide the last forever. 

'^ V. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Creator, 
whose name be blessed, is to be worshiped, and none else. 

" VI. I believe, with a perfect faith, that all the words 
of the prophets are true. 

" VII. I believe, with a perfect faith, the prophecies of 
Moses, our master — may he rest in peace — that he was 
the father and chief of all wise men that lived before him, 
or ever shall live after him. 

"• VIII. I believe that the law was given by Moses. 

" IX. I believe that the law shall never be altered, and 
that God will give no other. 

" X. I believe that God knows all the thoughts and ac- 
tions of men. 

" XI. I believe that God will regard the works of all 
those who perform what he commands, and that he will 
punish those who have transgressed his laws. 

" XII. I believe that the Messiah is yet to come, though 
h3 tarry a long time. 

" XIII. I believe that there will be a resurrection of the 
dead, at the time when God shall see fit." 



150 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS.- 

This is the doctrinal belief of what are now termed the 
Orthodox, or Conservative Jews. In recent times there 
has arisen a new school among them, who are termed Pro- 
gressive, or Rationalistic, who differ in some of their senti- 
ments from the other portion of the Jewish community. 

ENGLISH SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 

The doctrine that the seventh day of the week, and not 
the first day, is the true Sabbath of the Christian Church, 
has been entertained by many eminent divines, in various 
countries ; but there are only two denominations who make 
that doctrine the peculiar and distinctive characteristic of 
their sect. These are the English and the German Sev- 
enth Day Baptists. 

The former of these arose in England about the year 
1650. At that time, or soon after, there were some eight 
or ten small congregations of them existing in that coun- 
try. They were obscure, and of little importance. Promi- 
nent among their members was a preacher named Edward 
Stennet, who was persecuted by the authorities for his re- 
ligious belief. The " Conventicle Act," which was then 
in full force, prevented these people even from holding any 
kind of religious worship in accordance with their peculiar 
views. Another of their preachers, Joseph Davis, was 
imprisoned for a long time. Francis Bawfield was in jail 
eight years, during the reign of Charles IL, and eventu- 
ally died in prison, on account of his attachment to prin- 
ciples which were in opposition to those inculcated by a 
luxurious, pampered, hypocritical, and worldly Church. 

In 1665, the first Seventh Day Baptists arrived in this 
country from England. They were led by Stephen Mum- 
ford, and. settled at Newport, Rhode Island. But here 
also they were called on to endure some persecution in 
consequence of their conscientious scruples in observing 
the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath. The 
sect slowly spread into Connecticut, New Jersey, and New 
York. At the present time they exist in many of the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELiaiO^S. 151 

States, in small numbers ; and they have about fifty con- 
gregations, forty ministers, and seven thousand communi- 
cants, in the United States. They are divided into four 
associations — an Eastern, a Central, a Western, and a 
South-Western. They have an Annual Conference, com- 
posed of delegates from these four associations ; yet they 
are Congregational in their Church government — each So- 
ciety being in reality perfectly independent in the control 
of its private and individual affairs. The officers of their 
churches are pastors and deacons ; the latter of whom are 
chosen for life. They have a Literary Institution at De 
Ruyter, established in 1837 ; also an Academy at Alfred, 
in New York. In proportion to their numbers and means, 
they are an active and enterprizing sect. They are re- 
garded as orthodox, entertaining the doctrine of the Trin- 
ity, man's total depravity, the vicarious atonement, &c. 
But their main distinctive doctrine is their strict obser- 
vance of the Seventh day, or Saturday, as the Lord's Day. 
In support of this usage and belief they urge some very 
plausible arguments, of which the following are a specimen. 
They assert that the Seventh day of the week having been 
expressly set apart as the Sabbath, by God, immediately 
after the Creation, and it being expressly enjoined by the 
fourth commandment, some very clear injunction of Scrip- 
ture is requisite to justify the change to the first day of 
the week ; and that no such injunction exists. On the 
contrary, Christ directly taught that '' the Sabbath was 
made for man," meaning thereby the Sabbath which was 
then in use by the Jews, to whom he spoke. He also told 
his disciples to pray that " their flight be not in the win- 
ter, neither on the Sabbath day," which necessarily meant 
the Seventh day. And the Psalmist declares: "All his 
commandments are sure; they stand fast for ever." In 
regard to the argument that Christ rose from the dead on 
the first day of the week, they answer, that he died on 
Friday, thus effecting the atonement on that day ; and 
that, if such an argument should have any weight, it 
would give Friday a greater claim to being observed aa 



152 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

the Sabbath than the Monday. It is true, Paul says, in 
his First Epistle to the Corinthians : "On the first day of 
the week let every one lay by him in store," &c. ; but, say 
they, this injunction did not require the early Christians 
to meet on that day for public worship, and says nothing 
about the change of the Sabbath day. The Holy Spirit 
descended, as is supposed, on the first day of the week ; 
but there is no proof that Pentecost was on that day of 
the week. Paul preached to Lydia and her household on 
the Seventh day. At Ephesus, he went into the syna- 
gogue and preached and reasoned with the Jews on the 
Seventh day ; and he did the same thing at Thessalonica, 
three Sabbath days in succession. Certainly the Jews 
were not observing the first day of the week as their Sab- 
bath. 

ANTINOMIANS. 

These derive their name from Greek words, meaning 
against the law. In the sixteenth century, while Luther was. 
eagerly employed in censuring and refuting the Popish 
doctors, who mixed the law and gospel together, and repre- 
sented eternal happiness as the fruit of legal obedience, a 
new teacher arose whose name was John Agricola, a na- 
tive of Aisteben, and an eminent doctor in the Lutheran 
church. His fame began to spread in the year 1538, 
when from the doctrine of Luther, now mentioned, he 
took occasion to advance sentiments which were interpreted 
in such a manner, that his followers were distinguished by 
the title of Antinomians. 

The principal doctrines which bear this appellation, to- 
gether with a short specimen of the arguments made use 
of in their defence, are comprehended in the following 
summary : 

I. That the law ought not to be proposed to the people 
as a rule of manners, nor useful in the church as a means 
of instruction ; and that the gospel alone was to be incul- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 153 

cated and explained, both in the churches and in the 
schools of learning. 

For the scriptures declare, that Christ is not the law- 
giver, as it is said, "The law was given hj Moses; but 
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Therefore the 
ministers of the gospel ought not to teach the law. Chris- 
tians are not ruled by the law, but by the spirit of regene- 
ration, according as it is said, "Ye are not under the law, 
but under grace." Therefore the law ought not to be 
taught in the church of Christ. 

II. That the justification of sinners, is an immanent 
and eternal act of God, not only preceding all acts of sin, 
but the existence of the sinner himself. 

For nothing new can arise in God, on which account he 
calls things that are not as though they were ; and the 
apostle saith, "Who hath blessed us with all spiritual bles- 
sings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, before the foun- 
dation of the world." Besides, Christ was set up from 
everlasting, not only as the head of the church, but as the 
surety of his people ; by virtue of which engagement the 
Father decreed never to impute unto them their sins. See 
2d of Cor. iv. 19. 

III. That justification by faith is no more than a mani- 
festation to us of what was done before we had a being. 

For it is thus expressed in Hebrews xi. 1. "Now faith is 
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things 
not seen." We are justified only by Christ; but by faith 
we perceive it, and by faith rejoice in it, as we apprehend 
it to be our own. 

IV. That men ought not to doubt of their faith, nor 
question whether they believe in Christ. 

For, we are commanded to " draw near in full assurance 
of faith." Heb. x. 22. "He that believeth on the Son of 
God hath the witness in himself." 2d of John v. 10, ^. e,^ 
he has as much evidence as can be desired. 

y. That God sees no sin in believers, and they are no^ 
bound to confess sin, mourn for it, or pray that it may ha 
forgiven. 



154 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

For God has declared, Heb. x. 17. " Their sins aiid 
iniquities I will remember no more :" and in Jer. 1. 20, 
^'In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the ini- 
quity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; 
and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found : for I 
pardon them whom I reserve." 

yi. That God is not angry with the elect, nor doth he 
punish them for their sins. 

For Christ has made ample satisfaction for their sins. 
See Isaiah liii. 5. '' He was wounded for our transgres- 
sions, he was bruised for our iniquities," &c. And to in- 
flict punishment once upon the Surety, and again upon the 
believer, is contrary to the justice of God, as well as dero- 
gatory to the satisfaction of Christ. 

yil. That by God's laying our iniquities upon Christ, 
he became as completely sinful as we, and we as completely 
righteous as Christ. 

For Christ represents our persons to the Father ; and we 
represent the person of Christ to him. The loveliness of 
Christ is transferred to us ; on the other hand, all that is 
hateful in our nature is put upon Christ, who was forsaken 
by the Father for a time. See 2d of Cor. v. 21. " He was 
made sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be made 
the righteousness of God in him." 

VIII. That believers need not fear either their own 
sins or the sins of others, since neither can do them any 
injury. 

See Rom. viii. 33, 34. " Who shall lay any thing to 
the charge of God's elect?" &c. The apostle does not say 
that they never transgress ; but triumphs in the thought 
that no curse can be executed against them. 

IX. That the new covenant is not made properly with 
us, but with Christ for us ; and that this covenant is all of 
it a promise, having no conditions for us to perform ; for 
faith, repentance, and obedience, are not conditions on 
our part, but Christ's ; and he repented, believed, and 
obeyed for us. 

For the covenant is so expressed, that the performance 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 155 

lies upon the Deity himself, ''For this is the covenant that 
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith 
the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write 
them in their hearts ; and I will be to them a God, and 
they shall be to me a people.' 

X. That sanctification is not a proper evidence of jus- 
tification. 

For those who endeavor to evidence their justification 
by their sanctification, are looking to their own attain- 
ments and not to Christ's righteousness for hopes of sal- 
vation. 



OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTEEIAN CHURCH. 

Both branches of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States derive their origin historically from the Re- 
formed Church of Scotland, whose chief founder and most 
eminent leader was John Knox. It is usual to attribute 
the first preaching of the Protestant doctrines in Scotland 
to Knox ; but this is an error. The person who, prior to 
all others, proclaimed the new system of belief in that 
country, was Patric Hamilton, a friend and pupil of Luther, 
who, after his return from Wittemberg, preached the 
opinions which he had learned in Germany, to his coun- 
trymen, and was rewarded for his zeal by martyrdom, in 
1528. Among the fevf followers whom he had acquired 
was Wishart, w^ho pui'sued the same career and met the 
same end. After him came John Knox, who carried on 
the work of Reformation with greater ability and zeal than 
any of his predecessors, and eventually succeeded in con> 
verting or perverting a very large majority of the Scottish 
people from the Church of Rome to the new faith. 

Knox was born in Haddington, in 1505. His family, 
though not belonging to the nobility, was wealthy and re- 
spectable. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, 
and distinguished himself by his superior attainments and 
abilities. He soon after entered the priesthood of the 
Catholic Church, and being of a pious turn of mind, ho 



156 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

endeavored to discharge the duties of his office faithfully, 
and to accomplish some good. 

At that time a priest who displayed such a temper in 
Scotland was a phenomenon of rare occurrence. The bold 
and earnest preaching of Wishart converted Knox to the 
Protestant doctrine in the thirty-seventh year of his age, 
and he withdrew from the priesthood and all his ecclesias- 
tical relations. But at first he seemed to have no aspira- 
tions after the career of fame of a Reformer, for he settled 
himself down into the quiet and obscure situation of tutor 
to the sons of a nobleman. He was drawn from this re- 
tirement by the eloquence of Wishart, who appreciated 
the great qualities of Knox at their real value, and labored 
to call them forth into active service in the Protestant 
cause. Knox first accompanied Wishart, in his preaching 
tours through the country, and at length undertook to 
preach the doctrine which he had espoused. 

The most active and dangerous enemy of the Reforma- 
tion at that time in Scotland was Cardinal Beaton. He 
succeeded in destroying Wishart, but was himself shortly 
afterward assassinated by a band of young men who were 
attached to the new faith. Persecution thickened around 
-Knox and his associates. They took refuge in a castle 
near the city of St. Andrews, in which they were besieged 
for many months, and finally captured. Knox was pun- 
ished by imprisonment in the galleys, and this degraded 
and revolting penalty he endui^ed for the period of three 
yea.rs and a half. On his release he fled to England, over 
which country the pious Edward then reigned. The 
young King properly appreciated the merits of the Re- 
former, and appointed him one of the preachers to the 
Court. A still higher preferment in the English Church 
was offered him, but he declined it. Erom London he re- 
moved to Berwick, and there he preached and labored 
actively during two years. At the death of Edward, how- 
ever, he was compelled to flee. Scotland was governed 
by French influence ; a female monarch, devotedly attached 
to the Catholic Church, ruled in England; and Knox 



HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 157 

could find no safe retreat except at Geneva, on tlie free 
soil, and amid the mountain solitudes of Switzerland. 

Several years were spent by Knox in this retreat, 
which he employed industriously in receiving instruction 
from Calvin, both as to the true doctrines of the Christian 
faith and in regard to the proper form and model of the 
government of the church. As is well known, Calvin had 
established a church at Geneva, which he believed to be 
arranged and governed precisely as were the churches of 
the apostolic era. Knox approved of Calvin's views in 
every respect, and when he returned to Scotland he was 
not only a thorough convert to all of Calvin's doctrinal 
opinions, but an earnest defender of the Presbyterial form 
of church government, in opposition to the Episcopal or 
Prelatical form. 

Knox returned to Scotland in 1555. During his ab- 
sence the Reformation had made some progress, and he 
found the state of affairs favorable to the continuance of 
the work. He immediately commenced to preach and 
labor with great zeal. He first proposed that all those 
who were opposed to the Romish Church should take an 
oath never agam to attend the celebration of mass. This 
was a bold measure, and Knox was cited to appear before 
the Bishop's Court, at Edinburgh, to answer for his con- 
duct. Ten years before, Wishart had been burnt in per- 
son for a similar offence. On this occasion, so different 
had the state of affairs become, that Knox was condemned 
merely to be burnt in effigy. Undismayed by this penalty, 
Knox drew up his celebrated '^ Petition to the Queen Re- 
gent^'' desiring to be heard in the defence of himself, and 
assailing the Church of Rome with great boldness and 
severity. The effect of this measure eventually was that 
Knox was compelled once more to flee for his life, and 
once more he took refuge in the welcome haven of Geneva. 

He remained there till May, 1559, when he returned 
for the last time to Scotland, and resumed his work with 
greater boldness and resolution than ever. He was then 
fiftj-four years of age, small in person, wearing a long 



158 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

beard, which reached nearly to his waist. His massive 
brow and large, piercing eye, indicated his superior men- 
tal capacity. His preaching is represented as having 
been effective and powerful, and as making a prodigious 
impression upon the minds of his hearers. He held forth 
at Perth and at various other places in the kingdom, and 
soon all Scotland was in a blaze of religious excitement 
•and enthusiasm. 

The worst enemy with whom Knox had to contend was 
Mary, the beautiful and unfortunate Queen of Scotland. 
It is said that in his interviews with her he spoke with 
such severity and rudeness as to cause her to shed tears. 
He was no respecter of persons, and proclaimed his mes- 
sage with the same spirit in the palace and the hovel. 
Thus he continued to preach and labor till 1572, when his 
life ended ; but he had lived long enough to secure the 
prevalence of the Protestant religion throughout Scotland, 
and the final and total overthrow of the Church of Rome. 
He left the Presbyterian Church as it now exists, both in 
doctrine and government, the dominant, religious, or 
ecclesiastical power in his native land. 

An attempt was made by James YI., afterward James 
I. of England, to overthrow the Presbyterian influence in 
Scotland, by substituting in its place the Episcopal Church. 
He procured the appointment of bishops, and the introduc- 
tion of the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, 
and the abolition of the General Assembly of the Scotch 
Kirk. Charles I., acting under the advice of Archbishop 
Laud, endeavored to complete the work which his father 
had begun, by enacting other measures of violence and 
usurpation. But the Scottish people resisted his measures^ 
and in 1638, they abolished the modified form of Episco- 
pacy which had been introduced ; the General Assembly 
again convened, and Presbyterian doctrine and discipline 
once more became the recognized religion of the nation. 
This continued till 1660, when, during the reign and after 
the restoration of Charles II., his profligate government 
endeavored again to subvert Presbyterianism. It was not, 



HISTORY OF ALL EELIGIONS- 159 

however, till 1688, when the Revolution placed William 
of Orange and Mary on the throne of England, that per- 
fect religious liberty was granted to the Scotch people. 
From that period Presbyterianism became the religion of 
the great masses of the people, and that also which was 
established by law. It has remained the same till this 
day ; and although during the last century-and-a-half 
there have been many ecclesiastical conflicts and disturb- 
ances in Scotland, they have been always between the 
members of the Scotch Church themselves. 

These conflicts, which have been numerous, have often 
resulted in the forming of new sects, all of whom claim to 
be the true and pure Presbyterian Church — such as the 
Seceders, the Covenanters, the Burghers, and the anti- 
Burghers, the Old and New Light Burghers, the Reformed 
Presbyterian, and the Free Church of Scotland. In all 
these divisions and subdivisions the inherent w^eakness of 
the Scotch people to contend furiously for the most trifling 
and insignificant difi"erences of doctrine, displayed itself; 
and the same peculiarity has been exhibited in the history 
of the Presbyterians in this country, who have here been 
the most litigious of all sects, and have consequently 
experienced the greatest number of separations and 
schisms. 

The founders of Presbyterianism in the United States 
were immigrants from Scotland and the North of Ireland. 
The first Presbyterian Church which ever existed in this 
country, was organized in Philadelphia about the close of 
the seventeenth century. Other churches soon sprang up 
around it ; and in 170^ the Presbytery of Philadelphia 
was formed, consisting of seven clergymen. Francis Mc- 
Kemie was the first Presbyterian preacher who ever held 
forth in the Colonies. The first pastor of the first Pres- 
byterian Church in this city was Jedediah Andrews, a 
native of New England. In 1710, there were also one 
Presbyterian congregation in Virginia, four in Maryland, 
five in Pennsylvania, in Jersey two, with a few scattered 
members in New York. From this time the denomination 



160 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

rapidly increased, by the growth of their native popula- 
tion, and by constant immigration from Scotland, and the 
north of Ireland. Certain influential members wrote to 
the Synod of Glasgow, to the Presbytery of Dublin, and 
to the Independents of London, for a supply of ministers. 
This appeal resulted in obtaining what was desired. So 
much did the denomination increase in a short time, that 
in 1716, the Presbytery of Philadelphia found it desirable 
to divide itself into four subordinate presbyteries, and to 
assume the name and the functions of a Synod. It was 
composed at this period of thirteen ministers and six 
elders. In 1718, the celebrated William Tennent left the 
Protestant Episcopal Church and joined the Presbyterian. 
He afterward became one of the most distinguished and 
eloquent preachers who have ever flourished in this coun- 
try. He set forth his reasons for his change in a clear 
and condensed manner ; and the Synod of Philadelphia, 
of which he became a member, ordered the document to 
be filed. As it is a production of some interest, we here 
insert it : 

"The reasons of William Tennent for his dissenting 
from the Established Church in Ireland, delivered by him 
to the Synod held at Philadelphia, September 17, 1718 : 
1. Their government by bishops, archbishops, deans, chan- 
cellors, and vicars, is wholly unscriptural. 2. Their dis- 
cipline by surrogates and chancellors in their courts eccles- 
iastic, is without a foundation in the word of God. 3. Tlieir 
abuse of that supposed discipline by commutation. 4. A 
diocesan bishop cannot be founded, jure divino, upon 
Paul's epistles to Timothy or Ti^s, nor anywhere else in 
the word of God, and so is a mere human invention. 
5. The usurped power of the bishops at their yearly visi- 
tations, acting all of themselves, without consent of the 
brethren. 6. Pluralities of benefices. 7. The churches 
conniving at the practice of Arminian doctrines inconsis- 
tent with the eternal purpose of God, and an encourage- 
ment to vice. Besides, I could not be satisfied with their 
ceremonial way of worship. Those have so affected ray 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 161 

conscience, that I could no longer abide in a Church 
where the same are practised. 

William Tennent." 

Prior to the Revolution, the Presbyterian churches con- 
tinued to increase by a gradual process, throughout many 
of the original thirteen States ; and with the formation of 
new churches, presbyteries and synods were established, 
which held ecclesiastical jurisdiction over them. In Vir- 
ginia, they were much persecuted by the Episcopalians, 
who went so far, in 1618, as to enact by their House of 
Burgesses, that if any person came within the colony, and 
claimed to be a clergyman, and attempted to preach or 
perform any other clerical duty, without being able to 
show a testimonial that he had been ordained by an En- 
glish diocesan bishop, he was to be expelled from the limits 
of the colony. By the operation of this law the Presbyte- 
rian clergy were entirely excluded from Virginia for a 
long series of years. 

When the Revolution broke out, many of the most emi- 
nent patriots of the era were Presbyterians. Among these 
were John Witherspoon, who took a prominent part in 
securing the passage of the Declaration of Independence ; 
and George Duffield, who was a chaplain in the Continen- 
tal army. As a body, the Presbyterians contended for 
the validity of '^ a Church without a bishop, and a State 
without a king;" and their Church government is emi- 
nently a democratic or a republican one, by which the laity, 
through their representatives, the Ruling Elders, are ad- 
mitted to an equal share of authority in the various eccles- 
iastical tribunals of the Church. Previous to the Revolu- 
tion, a friendly correspondence was carried on between 
this sect and the Dutch Reformed, and Associate Reformed 
Synods ; but the most important era in the consolidation 
and prosperity of the Presbyterian Church in this country, 
was at the time of the first convention of the General As- 
eembly of the whole Church, which met in 1789. 

By the establishment of the General Assembly, all the 
11 



162 HISTOET OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Presbyterians in the various States were combined into 
one ecclesiastical congregation; a uniformity of discipline 
and of doctrine was introduced among tliem ; and greater sys- 
tem was attained in carrying on their benevolent enterprises, 
as well as in enforcing discipline. Among the several insti- 
tutions which the Church established at successive periods, 
were the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., at a later 
day, the Western Seminary at Allegheny City, near Pitts- 
burgh, and the Union Seminary in Prince Edward County, 
Virginia ; while among the colleges which are exclusively 
or chiefly under their control, are Nassau Hall at Prince- 
ton, Jefferson College at Cannonsburg, La Fayette Col- 
lege at Easton, the University of Nashville in Tennessee, 
and Centre College at Danville, Kentucky. Besides these, 
there are a Board of Education for preparing young cler- 
gymen for the ministry ; a Board of Publication, which 
has already issued nearly a hundred and fifty standard 
religious works ; a Board of Missions, both domestic and 
foreign. The latter has sent forth many missionaries 
to various portions of the earth. Thus in Northern India, 
there is a Synod of American missionaries who are' in 
connection with the Old School General Assembly. 
This Synod is composed of several Presbyteries which bear 
eastern names, as the Presbytery of Allahabad, having 
six ministers ; the Presbytery of Ferrukabad, having four 
ministers ; and the Presbytery of Lodiana, with five minis- 
ters, besides the usual number of elders. 

In the year 1830, the great schism began which resulted 
in the division of the Presbyterian body in this country 
into two parts, of nearly equal numbers and importance. 
We will proceed to state the chief doctrines which the Old 
School entertain. As the opinions taught by this sect are 
those of extreme and unmitigated Calvinism, and are 
peculiarly obnoxious to every other class of Christians, 
both Orthodox and Liberal, we will state them at some 
length. 

I. In regard to the Divine nature, Presbyterians hold 
the views which are universally termed Orthodox, such aa 



HISTOET OF ALL RELIGIONS. 163 

that God is a spirit, infinite in glory and perfection, in 
power and wisdom, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensi- 
ble, everywhere present, just, merciful, and gracious ; that 
there is but one true Grod, though there are three persons 
in the Godhead — that these three are one, the same in 
substance, equal in power and glory, though distinguished 
by their personal properties. In defining what the diifer- 
ent properties of these three Persons are, they answer that 
it is the function of the Father to beget the Son, and of 
the Son to be begotten of the Father, and of the Holy 
Spirit to proceed from the Father and the Son from all 
eternity. Yet these three are perfectly equal in power ; 
all three are equally eternal, without beginning, and un- 
created. 

II. They believe and teach that Adam was created per- 
fectly pure and holy ; but that he fell from that estate 
(being left to the full freedom of his own will) by eating 
of the forbidden fruit. That when Adam fell, all his 
future posterity fell with him ; that their nature became 
totally corrupted and sinful, wholly inclined to evil, and 
incapable of doing or thinking a particle of good. That 
by this fall Adam and all his posterity incurred the wrath 
and vengeance of Almighty God, his displeasure and his 
curse ; that they became justly liable to eternal misery 
hereafter ; and that, if left to themselves, they would in- 
evitably suffer such a fate. 

III. In regard to God's decrees and purposes, they hold 
that He foreordains from all eternity whatever comes to 
pass ; and that, being Omnipotent, his decrees cannot be 
resisted. That He determined from all eternity that a 
few members of the human family should be made heirs 
of salvation, while all the rest should become the recipients 
of the eternal misery which their original and actual sins 
had deserved. That he has chosen an elect few to enjoy 
eternal life ; and that, as none can enter Heaven without 
being holy and pare, the repentance and regeneration of 
the elect are necessarily as certainly foreordained by God, 
as is their final salvation. Hence men will repent or not 



164 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

repent, be lost or saved, precisely as God has decreed from 
all eternity. 

This doctrine is the great bone of contention between 
Calvinists and Arminians ; and to the vast majority of 
mankind it seems to be a most abominable sentiment, in- 
asmuch as it appears to teach that God creates millions 
of his creatures, knowing that he has decreed beforehand 
that they shall be forever and supremely miserable — 
thereby making him cruel, partial, inexorable, and revenge- 
ful. And yet, there are passages of Scripture which seem 
to teach this doctrine as plainly as words* could express it. 
Thus, for instance, Ephesians, i. 4, 5 : " According as he 
hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of 
the world, that we should be holy — ^having predestinated 
us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, to him- 
self." Verse 11 of the same chapter reads as follows : 
*' In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being 
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh 
all things after the counsel of his own will." So also Ro- 
mans, ix. 18 : " Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will 
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." And 
stronger still in Romans, viii. 30 : " Whom he did predes- 
tinate, them he also called ; and whom he called, them he 
also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glori- 
fied." Scripture proofs, which are apparently so unan- 
swerable as these seem to be, induce the members of this 
denomination to adhere tenaciously and with great earn- 
estness to a doctrine which Orthodox churches generally 
condemn, and which liberal Christians abominate as dis- 
graceful to God, and ruinous to human happiness. 

lY. According to the Presbyterian doctrine, God has 
made two covenants with the human race : one with Adam, 
which Adam broke and forfeited ; another with Christ, and 
in him with all the elect as his seed. The latter cove- 
nant is called the covenant of grace, by which a Mediator 
is provided for those whom God has ordained to eternal 
life. The covenant of grace was administered under the 
Old Testament by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circum- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 165 

cision, and other types and ordinances ; all of which were 
intended to represent the subsequent coming and suffer- 
ings of Christ. Under the New Testament this covenant 
is administered by the sacraments of Baptism and the 
Lord's Supper, the preaching of the word, and the other 
ordinances of Christianity. That the redemption procured 
by Christ might be efficacious, it was necessary that he 
should be both God and man. The divine nature in him 
was necessary to sustain and keep the human nature from 
sinking under the infinite wrath of God and the power of 
death ; although his human nature did finally sink under 
that exorbitant wrath ; and it was requisite that the 
Mediator should be human in order that he might perform 
perfect obedience to the law, suffer, and make intercession 
for men in their own nature, and have a fellow-feeling of 
sympathy with mankind. 

V. Another prominent doctrine of the Presbyterian 
system is " the final perseverance of the saints," by which 
is meant that it is impossible for those who have once re- 
pented and become Christians to relapse, fall from grace, 
and go to hell. This opinion results from their theory of 
'' effectual calling," which is the work of God's power and 
purpose, whereby, out of his free and especial love to his 
elect^ he draws them in his own time and way to repent- 
ance and faith, by the resistless influence of the Holy 
Spirit ; and that being thus called in accordance with God's 
purpose to redeem them, there can be no possibility of his 
intention being defeated, and they lost by a return to a 
sinful life. They admit that true believers may, in conse- 
quence of temptation and the inherent weakness of human 
nature, commit some sins, and that their best works are, 
after all, imperfect in the sight of God. But Christ con- 
tinually makes intercession for them ; they are meanwhile 
inseparably united to him ; and they may at all times rest 
assured that they are in a state of grace, and that they 
will infallibly be saved in the end. This confidence is 
based upon the promises of God to his elect, and on the 
omnipotence and the truthfulness of his nature. 



166 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

VI. Pi esbyterians believe in but two sacraments, Bap- 
tism and the Lord's Supper. The former is administered 
on all occasions by sprinkling, and to infants as well as 
adults. Their view of the Lord's Supper is, that tho 
bread and wine are merely commemorative symbols in- 
tended to remind the communicant of the events of Christ's 
sufferings and death, and thus give rise to devout reflec- 
tions. They do not in general receive the mysterious 
doctrine which John Calvin teaches in his Institutes, which 
asserts that the worthy communicant eats the flesh and 
bones of Christ, and drinks his blood, but that though he 
does this really, it is spiritually only ; which is about as 
reasonable a doctrine as to assert that human beings are 
composed of body and spirit, yet that the corporeal part 
merely exists spiritually. Genuine Presbyterians in this 
country deny this doctrine, and adhere to the simply sym- 
bolical nature of the Supper. 

VII. As to the final destination of the good and the 
wicked, the Presbyterian system, while it asserts that the 
elect few shall be saved, yet barely saved, teaches the ex- 
tremest degree of horror and hell-fire in reference to the 
vast majority of mankind, who, not being among the elect, 
cannot, and never could by any possibility, enter heaven. 
The preaching of Presbyterian clergymen usually exhibits 
a larger proportion of gloom, and is generally pervaded by a 
greater degree of brimstone and teeth-gnashing, than the 
preaching of any other denomination of Christians. 

Such are the main outlines of the doctrinal system held 
by the Old School Presbyterian Church. Many men of 
great eminence and distinction have belonged to the sect 
in this country, such as Dr. Archibald Alexander, Hodge, 
the two Breckenridges, Ashbel Green, and others. Since 
the separation between the Old and the New Schools, the 
former have increased more rapidly than the latter, and at 
the present time are more numerous and flourishing. 
They now have, under the jurisdiction of the General As- 
sembly, some twenty -five synods, about one hundred 
and thirty presbyteries, fifteen hundred minist-ers, twenty- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 167 

t^o hundred churclies, and two hundred and fifty thousand 
regular communicants. 

UNITAEIANS. 

The controversy which took place in Boston between 
Dr. Channing and Dr. Samuel Worcester, in 1815, first 
attracted the attention of the tuliole community to the ex- 
istence and to the doctrines of Unitarianism. The polemic 
storm raged during several years, many publications ap- 
pearing on both sides of the question. After the tempest 
passed away, the unscathed and imposing form of Unita 
rian Christianity appeared through the gloom, towering 
toward heaven in attractive beauty, symmetry, and solidity, 
holding a recognized place among the religious denomina- 
tions of the country. The principle which lies at the 
foundation of this church is that of the unrestricted right 
of private judgment in matters of religion. The advocates 
of Unitarianism hold that each individual is responsible to 
God for the opinions which he entertains, and that where 
there is responsibility there must of necessity be perfect 
freedom of thinking and acting. Neither primitive Fa- 
thers, nor ecclesiastical councils, nor synods, nor estab- 
lished creedS; possess any absolute authority for them. In 
the conscientious exercise of this right the founders, or 
rather revivers, of Unitarianism in this country, arrived 
at a system of belief something like the following : They 
hold to the absolute Unity of the Supreme Being ; thus 
necessarily denying the doctrine of the Trinity, or three 
persons in one God. They teach that Christ was the first 
and greatest of all created beings ; that he was the wisest 
and best personage who ever existed on earth ; that his 
mission was divine, being what he himself declared it to 
be, sent by God 'Uo bear witness to the truth ;" that the 
Holy Spirit is not a separate personal entity, but an influ- 
ence which the Creator exercises upon the minds of men 
under such circumstances as may comport with his will 
and purposes ; that the Scriptures are for the most part 



168 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

the product of a diyine influence exerted upon the minds 
of those who wrote them, and that they contain doctrines 
and precepts, the belief and observance of which will make 
men wise unto salvation. The Unitarians further believe 
that the death of Christ was not vicarious, but simply the 
necessary and natural result of his labors and innovations 
as a great and wise teacher ; that by dying on the cross he 
gave the strongest possible evidence of his own sincerity, 
disinterestedness, and obedience to the will of Him who 
sent him ; that he was raised from the dead " by the power 
of God;" that such miracles as he did perform, he per- 
formed by that same power, which was delegated to him ; 
that inasmuch as he left no very specific and minute di- 
rections to his apostles in reference to the external relig- 
ious organization of those who then were, and who would 
afterward become, his followers, he regarded that outward 
form as a matter of little consequence ; that in proportion 
as mankind in every age believe and obey what they find 
recorded in the Scriptures, interpreted by their own en- 
lightened consciousness of what they suppose to be taught 
therein, they will be happy here and hereafter. They 
hold that charity, and not ecclesiastical ferocity — love to 
God and man, and not implacable religious bigotry and 
spite — constitute the great fundamental essence of Chris- 
tianity. They believe that every sinful act will be pun- 
ished precisely in proportion to its deserts ; and that the 
ultimate consequence of that punishment will be curative 
and remedial, which they regard as the only fit purpose 
of punishment when inflicted by an infinitely wise and 
benevolent Creator. Finally, they contend that, at the 
" consummation of all things," a result will be produced 
which will prove that the chief object of God in the crea- 
tion of the world was not to construct an almost universal 
pandemonium, in which ninety-nine hundredths of his ra- 
tional creatures should after death be eternally and hope- 
lessly miserable, thus making a general hell in fact the 
chef d'oeuvre of his moral government, and the most 
prominent and all-absorbing object in it ; but that, on the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 169 

contrary, the final destiny of the world will be the preva- 
lence of universal holiness, such as God's pure law de- 
mands ; of universal happiness, such as his merciful nature 
rejoices in ; a whole race redeemed from sin and misery 
by obedience to the truth, such as Jesus taught it ; and a 
universe exulting throughout its vast and illimitable do- 
mains in that unbroken harmony, purity, and' felicity, which 
would alone confer glory upon the attributes and provi- 
dence of the Creator and Father of all. 

UNIYEESALISTS. 

Of the real doctrines of Universalism, very great igno- 
rance prevails in this country. As an organized denomi- 
nation it is of comparatively recent date ; being scarcely 
known anterior to the opening of the present century. 
Yet though the career of the organization is not very 
ancient, it is a circumstance worthy of note that the chief 
central doctrine of Universalism has been held by some 
few Christian teachers in all ages since the Apostolic era. 
Several of the early Fathers taught it. Origen and Arius 
believed it. Several of the divines of the Church of Eng- 
land have held it, such as Tillotson ; as well as some emi- 
nent "Dissenters," such as John Foster; to say nothing 
of vast numbers of what are termed the Neological or Ra- 
tionalistic theologians of Germany. It cannot be denied 
that important changes have taken place in the doctrinal 
system held by Universalists in this country, since it was 
originally preached by Hosea Ballon, the first. According 
to him and his immediate successors, the theory of Univer- 
salism was, that all penalty or punishment for sin was in- 
flicted in the present life ; and that in consequence of the 
universal and all-atoning power of Christ's sufferings and 
atonement, all men entered on the enjoyment of the felici- 
ties of heaven immediately after their departure from the 
earth. This theory entirely ignored the existence of hell- 
fire; of a personal, living and tormenting Devil; of a 
literal judgment-day, in which a separation should be 



ITO HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

made between the good and tlie bad, tbe sheep and the 
goats; and it contended that though every man should be 
adequately and sufficiently punished for his unforgiven 
sins, that punishment would be inflicted only during the 
period and the progress of the present existence. 

Subsequently the main doctrine of the denomination 
became altered, in consequence, probably, of future invos- 
tigation, and also, doubtless, from the experience which 
had been felt of the difficulty of maintaining, by argument, 
the position originally and previously contended for. 
The opinion substituted for the old one by the general 
consent, or at least by the general use and concurrence 
of the denomination, was, that while denying the eternity 
of hell-fire, they admitted that some punishment for sin 
did take place in a future state, accurately proportioned 
by Infinite Wisdom and Justice to the precise deserts of 
the sinner. Universalists now hold to the existence of a 
future purgatory, not unlike, in some respects, to the Ro- 
man Catholic doctrine. They are at present, in fact and 
substance, Rationalists, teaching the final restoration of 
all mankind to holiness, and, as a necessary consequence, 
to happiness. Other important changes have taken place 
gradually in the doctrinal system held by them. Origi- 
nally they taught the absolute divinity of Christ, with the 
vicarious nature and the universally efficacious power of 
his atonement. They held that, so great was the benefit 
produced by his sufferings and death for fallen, degraded 
and ruined humanity, that all men were saved thereby 
from future and eternal punishment : the disciplinary and 
punitive portion of human existence being confined to the 
present life. Now, however, they generally deny the di- 
vinity of Christ. Some are Avians, regarding him as a 
member of the Godhead, but greatly inferior in nature, 
power, and glory, to the Father. The majority of them 
are Socinians, believing Christ to have been only a man, 
but the greatest, best, and wisest of men and of teachers 
who ever existed and labored on earth. They deny the 
vicarious nature of the atonement, or, rather, they do not 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. ITl 

believe in any atonement at all, for the logical reason that, 
if Christ were a mere man, his sufferings, death, and obe- 
dience, would not be any more efficacious in propitiating 
the wrath of the offended Deity, and fulfilling the require- 
ments of an all-perfect law, than would the sufferings, 
death, and obedience of any other great and good man. In 
fact, they go behind the theory of the atonement entirely, 
and hold that no atonement is necessary, because Adam 
and his descendants have never fallen. In other words, 
they deny original sin and native depravity. They do 
not regard human nature as the degraded, miserable, and 
detestable thing which the Orthodox system represents it 
as being. They contend that if Adam fell and thus threw 
a black mantle of misfortune and guilt over the moral uni 
verse immediately after his creation, such an event was 
a failure and a baulk at the very commencement of God's 
moral government, which would be by no means compli- 
mentary to the providence, foresight, and power of the 
Creator ; who, originally creating the world and the hu- 
man race for purity, holiness, and happiness alone, at once 
beheld the whole business spoiled, his handiwork defaced, 
his glory marred, his enemy the Devil triumphant, and his 
own benevolent purposes defeated at the very start of the 
experiment. Accordingly, Universalists do not believe 
that any such fearful catastrophe ever occurred ; and while 
they admit that sin exists in the world, they do not believe 
in the same excess of it, nor in the necessity of the same 
remedy for its powers and its ravages which the Orthodox 
do ; but they hold that by suffering the inevitable consequen- 
ces of sin both here, and temporarily and sufficiently hereaf- 
ter, it will be wiped out eventually from every spirit, and 
a holy and happy race will be the winding up of the 
world's history and experience. 

MAHOMMEDANS. 

The Mohammedans, or Mahommedans, derive their name 
and doctrine from Mahomet, who was born in Arabia, in 



172 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

the sixth century. He was endowed with a subtle genius, 
and possessed an enterprise and ambition peculiar to him- 
self. He pretended to receive revelations ; and declared 
that God sent him into the world, not only to teach his 
will, but to compel mankind to embrace it. The magis- 
trates of Mecca were alarmed at the progress of his doc- 
trines, and Mohammed being apprized of their design to 
destroy him, fled to Medina : from this flight, which hap- 
pened in the 622d year of Christ, his followers compute 
their time. This era is called in Arabic, Hegira. 

The book in which the Mahometan religion is contained, 
is called the Koran, or Alcoran, by way of eminence, as 
we say the Bible, which means the Book.* Its doctrines 
made a most rapid progress over Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and 
Persia ; and Mohammed became the most powerful mon- 
arch in his time. His successors spread their religion and 
conquests over the greatest part of Asia, Africa, and 
Europe ; and they still give law to a very considerable 
part of mankind. 

The great doctrine of the Koran is the unity of God : to 
restore which point, Mohammed pretended was the chief 
end of his mission ; it being laid down by him as a funda- 
mental truth, that there never was, nor ever can be, more 
tTian one true orthodox religion. For though the particu- 
lar laws or ceremonies are only temporary, and subject to 
alteration according to the divine direction, yet the sub' 
stance of it being eternal truth, is not liable to change, 
but continues immutably the same. And he taught, that 
whenever this religion became neglected, or corrupted in 
essentials, God had the goodness to re-inform and re-ad- 
monish mankind thereof by several prophets, of whom 
Moses and Jesus were the most distinguished, till the ap- 

* The generality of the Mohammedans believe, that the first manu- 
script of the Koran has been from everlasting by God's throne, written 
on a table of vast bigness called the Preserved Table, in which are re- 
corded the divine decrees : that a copy from this table, in one volume 
on pa^er, was, by the ministry of the angel Gabriel, sent down to the 
lowest heaven, in the month of Eamadan. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 1T3 

pearance of Mohammed. The Koran asserts Jesus to be 
the true Messias, the word and breath of God, worker of 
miracles, healer of diseases, preacher of heavenly doctrine, 
and exemplary pattern of a perfect life ; denying that he 
was crucified, but affirming that he ascended into Paradise ; 
and that his religion was mended by Mohammed, who was 
the seal of the prophets, and was sent from God to restore 
the true religion, which was corrupted in his time, to its 
primitive simplicity ; with the addition, however, of pecu- 
liar laws and ceremonies, some of which have been used 
in former times, and others were now first instituted. 

The Mohammedans divide their religion into two gene- 
ral parts — faith or theory, and religion or practice. Faith 
or theory is contained in this confession of faith, — There 
is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet. Under 
these two propositions are comprehended six distinct 
branches : 

1. Belief in God. — 2. In his angels. — 3. In his scrip- 
tures. — 4. In his prophets. — 5. In the resurrection and 
judgment. — 6. In God's absolute decrees. 

They reckon four points relating to practice, viz : 

1. Prayer, with washings. — 2. Alms. — 3. Fasting. — 
4. Pilgrimage to Mecca. 

The idea which Mohammed taught his disciples to enter- 
tain of the Supreme Being, may be seen from a public ad- 
dress he made to his countrymen, which is as follows : 

" Citizens of Mecca ! The hour is now come, when you 
must give an account of your reason and your talents. In 
vain have you received them from an Almighty Master, 
liberal and beneficent — in case you use them negligently, 
or if you never reflect. In the name of this Master, I 
must tell you, he will not sufier you to abuse his inestima- 
ble gifts by wasting life away unprofitably, and employing 
them only in unworthy amusements. No more permit de- 
lusive pleasures to distract your hearts ! Open your minds 
and receive the truth ! Wo to you for the unworthy notion 
you have entertained of God ! The heaven and the earth 
are his own ! and there is nothing in all their copious fur- 



174 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

niture but what invariably obeys him ! The sun and stars 
with all their glory, have never disdained his service ! 
and no being can resist his will, and the exercise of his 
omnipotence ! He will call men to an account, and require 
of them the reason for all those Gods they have invented 
in defiance of reason ! There is no other God but God, 
and him only we must adore."* 

The belief of the existence of angels is absolutely re- 
quired in the Koran. The Mohammedans suppose they 
have pure and subtile bodies, created of fire ; and that they 
have various forms and offices ; some being employed in 
writing down the actions of men, others in carrying the 
throne of God, and other services. They reckon four 
angels superior to all the rest : These are, Gabriel, who 
is employed in writing down the divine decrees ; Michael, 
the friend and protector of the Jews ; Azrael, the angel 
of death ; and Israsil, who will sound the trumpet at the 
resurrection. They likewise assign to each person two 
guardian angels. 

The Devil, according to the Koran, was once one of the 
highest angels, but fell for refusing to pay homage to Adam 
at the command of God. 

Besides angels and devils, the Mohammedans are taught 
by the Koran to believe an intermediate order of creatures, 
which they call Jin, or Genii, created also of fire, but of 
a grosser fabric than angels ; and are subject to death. 
Some of these are supposed to be good, and others bad, 
and capable of future salvation or damnation as men are ; 
whence Mohammed pretended to be sent for the conversion 
of Genii as well as men. 

As to the Scriptures, the Mohammedans are taught by 
the Koran, that God, in divers ages of the world, gave 
revelations of his will in writing to several prophets. The 
number of these sacred books, according to them, are one 
hundred and four ; of which ten were given to Adam, fifty 
to Seth, thirty to Enoch, ten to Abraham ; and the other 

* Boulanviller's Life of Mahomet. ' 



HISTORY OF ALL flELIGIONS. 175 

four, being the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Gospels, and 
the Koran, were successively delivered to Moses, Da- 
vid, Jesus, and Mohammed ; which last, being the seal of 
the prophets, these revelations are now closed. All these 
divine books, excepting the four last, they agree to be 
entirely lost, and their contents unknown. And of these 
four, the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Gospels, they say, have 
undergone so many alterations and corruptions, that very 
little credit is to be given to the present copies in the 
hands of the Jews and Christians. 

The number of prophets, who have been from time to 
time sent into the world, amounts to two hundred and 
twenty-four thousand ; among whom three hundred and 
thirteen were apostles, sent with special commissions to 
reclaim mankind from infidelity and superstition ; and six 
of them brought new laws or dispensations, which succes- 
sively abrogated the preceding. These were Adam, Noah, 
Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed.* 

The next article of faith required by the Koran, is the 
belief of a general resurrection and a future judgment. 
But before these, they believe there is an intermediate 
state, both of the soul and of the body after death. When 
a corpse is laid in the grave, two angels come and examine 
it concerning the unity of God, and the mission of Mo- 
hammed. If the body answers rightly, it is suffered to 
rest in peace, and is refreshed by the air of Paradise : if 
not, they beat it about the temples with iron maces ; then 
press the earth on the corpse, which is gnawed and stung 
by ninety-nine dragons, with seven heads each. 

As to the souls of the faithful, when they are separated 
from the body by the angel of death, they teach, that 
those of the prophets are admitted into Paradise imme- 
diately. Some suppose, the souls of believers are with 
Adam in the lowest heaven ; and there are various other 
opinions concerning their state. Those who are called the 
most orthodox, hold that the souls of the wicked are con- 

* Sale's Koran, vol. i. p. 94, 95. 



176 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

fined in a dungeon under a green rock, to be there tor- 
mented till their re-union with the body at the general 
resurrection. 

That the resurrection will be general, and extend to all 
creatures, both angels, genii, men, and animals, is the re- 
ceived opinion of the Mohammedans, which they support 
by the authority of the Koran, 

Mankind, at the resurrection, will be distinguished into 
three classes ; the first, of those who go on foot ; the 
second, of those who ride; and the third, of those who 
creep groveling with their faces to the ground. The first 
class will consist of those believers whose good works have 
been few ; the second, of those who are more acceptable 
to God ; whence Ali affirmed that the pious, when they 
come forth from their sepulchres, shall find ready prepared 
for them, white-winged camels, with saddles of gold. The 
third class will be composed of the infidels, whom God will 
cause to make their appearance with their faces on the 
ground. When all are assembled together, they will wait, 
in their ranks and orders, for the judgment ; some say forty 
years, others seventy, others three hundred, and some no 
less than fifty thousand years. During which time they 
will suff"er great inconveniences, the good as well as the 
bad, from their thronging and pressing upon each other, 
and the unusual approach of the sun, which will be no 
farther off them, than the distance of a mile ; so that the 
skulls of the wicked will boil like a pot, and they will be 
all bathed with sweat. At length, God will come in the 
clouds surrounded by the angels, and will produce the 
books wherein every man's actions are written. Some 
(explaining those words so frequently used in the Koran, 
God will be swift in taking an account,) say, that he will 
judge all creatures in the space of half a day ; and others, 
that it will be done in less time than the twinkling of an 
eye. At this tribunal, every action, thought, word, &c. 
will be weighed in a balance held by the angel Gabriel, of 
so vast a size, that its two scales are capacious enough to 
contain both heaven and earth. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 177 

The trials being over, and the assembly dissolved, those 
who are to be admitted into Paradise, will take the right 
hand way ; and those who are destined to hell-fire, the left ; 
but both of them must first pass the bridge called in Arabic, 
Al Sirat, which is laid over the middle of hell, and is de- 
scribed to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge 
of a sword. The wicked will miss their footing and fall 
headlong into hell.* 

In the Koran it is said that hell has seven gates ; the 
first for the Musselmen, the second for the Christians, the 
third for the Jews, the fourth for the Sabians, the fifth for 
the Magicians, the sixth for the Pagans, the seventh and 
worst of all, for the Hypocrites of all religions. The in- 
habitants of hell will suffer a variety of torments, which 
shall be of eternal duration, except with those who have 
embraced the true religion, who will be delivered thence, 
after they have expiated their crimes by their sufierings.f 

The righteous, after havin^g surmounted the difficulties 
in their passage, will enter Paradise, which they describe 
to be a most delicious place, whose earth is the finest wheat, 
or musk ; and the stones pearls, or jacinths. It is also 
adorned with flowery fields, beautiful with trees of gold, 
enlivened with the most ravishing music, inhabited by ex- 
quisite beauties, abounding with rivers of milk, wine, and 
honey, and watered by lesser springs, whose pebbles are 
rubies, emeralds, &c. Here the faithful enjoy the most 
exquisite sensual delights, free from the least alloy.J 

The sixth great point of faith which the Mohammedans 
are taught to believe, is, Grod's absolute decrees, and pre- 
determination, both of good and evil. The doctrine which 



* Sale's Koran, p. 90, 100, 112. 

•f Between Paradise and hell, they imagine there is a wall or parti- 
tion, in which, some suppose, those were placed whose good and evil 
works exactly counterpoised each other. These will be admitted to 
Paradise at the last day, after they have performed an act of adoration, 
which will make the scale of their good works to over-balance. 

J Some of the most refined Mohammedans understand their prophet's 
deswiptiou of Paradise in an allegorical sense. 
12 



178 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

they call orthodox, is, that whatever doth or shall come to 
pass in the world, whether it be good or bad, proceedeth 
entirely from the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and 
recorded from all eternity in the preserved table ; and that 
God hath secretly predetermined not only the adverse and 
prosperous fortune of every person in the world, in the 
most minute particulars, but also his obedience or disobe- 
dience, and consequently his everlasting happiness or 
misery after death ; which fate or predestination it is im- 
possible by any foresight or wisdom to avoid. 

Of the four practical duties required by the Koran, 
prayer is the first. Mohammed used to call prayer the 
pillar of religion and the key of Paradise. Hence he 
obliged his followers to pray five times every twenty-four 
hours, and always wash before prayers. 

Circumcision is held by the Mohammedans to be of di- 
vine institution. 

The giving of alms is frequently commanded in the Ko- 
ran, and often recommended therein jointly with prayer ; 
the former being held of great efficacy in causing the 
latter to be heard with God. 

Fasting is a duty enjoined by Mohammed as of the ut- 
most importance. His followers are obliged by the ex- 
press command of the Koran, to fast the whole month of 
Kamadan ; during which time, they are obliged to fast 
from daylight to sunset. The reason the month of Rama- 
dan is pitched upon for that purpose, is, because they sup- 
pose that at that time the Koran was sent down from 
heaven. 

The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary a point of 
practice, that, according to a tradition of Mohammed, he 
who dies without performing it, may as well die a Jew or 
a Christian ; and the same is expressly commanded in the 
Koran. 

The negative precepts of the Koran are, to abstain from 
usury, gaming, drinking of wine, eating of blood, and 
Bwine's flesh. 

The Mohammedans are divided and subdivided into an 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 179 

endless variety of sects. As it is said tliere is as great a 
diversity in their opinions as among the Christians, it is 
impossible to give a particular account of their divisions in 
the compass of this work ; which will admit only of noticing 
a few of their principal denominations. 

The divinity of the Mohammedans may be divided into 
scholastic and practical. Their scholastic divinity consists 
of logical, metaphysical, theological, and philosophical 
disquisitions ; and is built on principles and methods of 
reasoning very different from what are used by those who 
pass among the Mohammedans themselves for the sounder 
divines, or more able philosophers. This art of handling 
religious disputes was not known in the infancy of Mo- 
hammedism, but was brought in when sects sprang up, 
and articles of religion began to be called in question. 

As to their practical divinity, or jurisprudence, it con- 
sists in the knowledge of the decisions of the law, which 
regard practice gathered from distinct proo^. The princi- 
pal points of faith subject to the examination and discus- 
sion of the school-men, are, the unity and attributes of 
God ; the divine decrees, or predestination ; the promises 
and threats contained in the law ; and matters of history 
and reason. 

The sects among the Mohammedans who are esteemed 
orthodox, are called by the general name of Sonnites, or 
Traditionarists, because they acknowledge the authority of 
the Sonna, or collection of moral traditions of the sayings 
and actions of their prophet. 

The Sonnites are subdivided into four chief sects, viz., 

1st. The Hanisites.— 2d. The Malekites.— 3d. The Sha- 
feits. — 4th. The Hanbalites. 

The difference between these sects consists only in a few 
indifferent ceremonies. 

The sects whom the generality of the Mohammedans 
suppose entertain erroneous opinions are numerous ; the 
following are selected from a large number, in order to 



180 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

give some ideas of tlie disputes among Mohammedan di- 
vines.* 

I. The Montazalites, the followers of Wasel Ebn Ata. 
As to their chief and general tenets : 1st. They entirely 
rejected all eternal attributes of God, to avoid the dis- 
tinction of persons made by the Christians. 2d. Thej" 
believed the word of God to have been created in suhjecto, 
as the school-men term it, and to consist of letters and 
sounds ; copies thereof being written in books to express 
and imitate the original. They also affirmed, that what- 
ever is created in suhjecto is also an accident, and liable 
to perish. 3d. They denied absolute predestination ; main- 
taining, that God was not the author of evil, but of good 
only ; and that man was a free agent. 4th. They held, 
that if a professor of the true religion is guilty of a griev- 
ous sin, and dies without repentance, he will be eternally 
damned, though his punishment will be lighter than that 
of the infidels. 5th. They denied all vision of God in Pa- 
radise by the corporeal eye, and rejected all comparisons 
or similitudes applied to God. 

This sect are said to have been the first inventors of 
scholastic divinity, and are subdivided, as some reckon, 
into twenty different sects. 

II. The Hashbemians ; who were so named from their 
master Aba Hasham Abel al Salem. His followers were 
so much afraid of making God the author of evil, that they 
would not allow him to be said to create an infidel, because 
an infidel is a compound of infidelity and man, and God is 
not the creator of infidelity. 

III. The Nohamians, or followers of Ibrahim al Ned- 
ham, who imagining he could not sufficiently remove God 
from being the author of evil, without divesting him of his 
power in respect thereto, taught that no power ought to be 
ascribed to God concerning evil and rebellious actions : 
but this he affirmed against the opinion of his own discl- 

* Sale's Koran, p. 142, 146, 148, 150, 152. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 181 

pies, who allowed that God could do evil, but did not, be- 
cause of its turpitude. 

rV. The Jabedhians, or followers of Amru Ebn Bahr, 
a great doctor of the Montazalites, who differed from his 
brethren, in that he imagined the damned would not be 
eternally tormented in hell, but would be changed into the 
nature of brutes, and the vilest classes of the animal crea.- 
tion. 

ATHAN ASIANS. 

Those who profess similar sentiments to those taught 
by Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, who flourished in the 
fourth century. He was bishop during forty-six years ; and 
his long administration was spent in a perpetual combat 
against the powers of Arianism. He is said to have con- 
secrated every moment, and every faculty of his being, to 
the defence of the doctrine of the Trinity. The scheme 
of Athanasius made the Supreme Deity to consist of three 
persons, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. 
The first of those three persons and fountain of divinity to 
the other two, it makes to be the Father. The second 
person is called the Son, and is said to be descended from 
the Father, by an eternal generation of an ineffable and 
incomprehensible nature in the essence of the Godhead. 
The third person is the Holy Ghost, derived from the Fa- 
ther and the Son, but not by generation, as the Son is 
derived from the Father, but by an eternal and incompre- 
hensible procession. Each of these persons are very and 
eternal God, as much as the Father himself; and yet 
though distinguished in this manner, they do not make 
three Gods, but one God. 

This system also includes in it the belief of two natures 
in Jesus Christ, viz., the divine and human, forming one 
person. 

To prove the divinity of Christ, and his co-equality with 
the Father, this denomination argue thus : 

In John i. 1, it is said expressly, " In the beginning 



182 HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS, 

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God." Which implies, that the Word existed from 
all eternity, not as a distinct, separate power, but the 
Word was with God, and the Word was God, not another 
God, but only another person, of the same nature, sub- 
stance, and Godhead. 

It is evident, that St. John intended the word "God" in 
this strict sense, from the time of which he is speaking. 
In the beginning the Word was God, before the creation. 
It is not said, that he was appointed God over the things 
which should be afterwards created. He was God before 
any dominion over the creatures commenced. 

It is said, that all things absolutely were made by him ;. 
therefore he who created all things, cannot be a created 
being. Since nothing was made but by and through him, 
it follows that the Son, as Creator, must be eternal and 
strictly divine. 

Christ's divinity and co-equality with the Father, are 
plainly taught in Phil. ii. 5, 6, 7, &c. "Let this mind be' 
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the 
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, 
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the 
form of a servant." 

Our Saviour says of himself, " I and my Father are 
one." John v. 19. " He that has seen me, has seen the 
Father." John x. 30. "All that the Father hath are 
mine." John xvi. 15. Those high and strong expres- 
sions are supposed to teach, that he is the supreme God. 

The prophets describe the true God as the only Saviour 
of sinners. For thus it is written, "I, even I, am Jehovah, 
and besides me there is no Saviour. Jesus Christ not 
only professes to save sinners, but he calls himself the 
Saviour, by way of eminence. Hence it is evident, that 
he assumes a character in the most emphatical way, which 
the God of Israel had challenged and appropriated to 
himself. 

The divine titles, which are ascribed to the Son in 
Scriptures are: "The true God." 1 John v. 28. • "The 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 183 

mighty God." Isa. ix. 6. " The Alpha and Omega, the 
first and the last." Rev. i. 8. '' The God over all blessed 
forever more." Rom. ix. 5. And Thomas calls Christ, 
after his resurrection, his Lord and God. 

The titles given to Christ in the New Testament, are 
the same with those which are given to God in the Jewish 
Scriptures. The name Jehovah,* which is appropriated 
to God, Psalm Ixxxiii. 18. Isa. xiv. 5, is given to Christ. 
See Isa. xiv. 23, 25, compared with Rom. xiv. 12. Isa. 
xi. 3, compared with Luke i. 76. Jesus is the person 
spoken of by St. John, whose glory Esaias is declared to 
have seen, when he affirms he saw the Lord of hosts. 
Therefore Jesus is the Lord of hosts. 

The attributes, which are sometimes appropriated to 
God, are applied to Christ. 

Omniscience is ascribed to Christ. John xvi. 10. 
"Now we are sure that thou knowest all things." To be 
the searcher of the heart, is the peculiar and distinguishing 
characteristic of the one true God, as appears from Jer. 
xvii, 10. Yet our blessed Lord claims this perfection to 
himself. "I am he," saith he, "that searcheth the reins 
and the heart." Rev. ii. 23. 

Omnipresence, another divine attribute, is ascribed to 
Christ. Matt, xviii. 20. " Where two or three are gath- 
ered together in my name, there am I, in the midst of 
them." 

Immutability is ascribed to Christ. Heb. i. 10, 11, 12. 
" Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." This 
is the very description which the Psalmist gives of the 
immutability of the only true God. See also Heb. xiii. 8. 

Eternity is ascribed to Christ. Rev. i. 8. The Son's 
being Jehovah, is another proof of his eternity, that name 
expressing necessary existence. 

* It has been observed by critics on the word Jehovah, that the first 
Byllable Jah means the divine essence, and that by hovah may be under- 
Stood, calamity, grief, destruction. Hence some have supposed, the 
design of that venerable name was to convey unto us the ideas of a 
divine essence in a human frame, and a sufifering and crucified Messiah. 



184 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Christ is also said to have almighty power. Heb. i. 3 
See also Phil. iii. 21. 

The truth and faithfulness of God are ascribed to Christ, 
"lam," says he, "the truth," &c. 

Divine works are also ascribed to Christ, viz., creation, 
preservation, and forgiveness of sins. 

There are numerous texts of Scripture, which assert 
that Christ is the Creator of all things. See Heb. i. 10. 
" Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of 
the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 
See also Rev. iii. 14. 1 Cor. viii. 6, and various other 
passages. 

The work of creation is everywhere, in Scripture, repre- 
sented as the mark and characteristic of the true God. 
See 2 Kings xix. 15. Job xxii. 7. Psalm xix. 1. Hence 
it is evident that Christ, the Creator, is the true God. 

Preservation is ascribed to Christ. Heb. i. 3. " Up- 
holding all things by the word of his power." 

Christ himself says, in Matt. ix. 6, " The Son of man 
hath power on earth to forgive sins. 

Christ's being appointed the supreme Judge of the 
world, is an evidence that he is the true God. The God 
of Israel is emphatically styled, the Judge of all. 

Religious worship, though appropriated to God, was by 
divine approbation and command given to Christ. Heb. 
i. 6. The apostle speaking of Christ, says, " Let the an- 
gels of God worship him." See also Luke xxiv. 25. John 
V. 23. Rev. i. 5, 6 ; v. 13, &c. 

The Scripture everywhere asserts that God alone is to 
be worshiped. The same Scripture asserts that our 
blessed Saviour is to be worshiped. Thus St. Stephen 
adores him with direct worship : " Lord Jesus, receive my 
Spirit." The obvious consequence of which is, our blessed 
Saviour is God. 

This denomination allege, that divine titles, attributes, 
works, and worship, are also ascribed to the Holy Ghost. 

Many plead that the Holy Spirit is called Jehovah in 
the Old Testament; by comparing Acts xxviii. 23, with 



HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 185 

Isa. vi. 9. And lie also appears to be called God. 
Acts V. 4. 

Eternity is clearly the property of the Holy G-host, who 
is styled by the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, 
"the eternal Spirit." Heb. ix. 14. 

Omnipresence is a necessary proof of divinity. This 
attribute belongs to the Holy Spirit ; for thus saith the 
inspired poet, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" 
Psalm cxxxix. 7. 

Omniscience is ascribed to the Spirit. 1 Cor. ii. 10. 
" For the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things 
of God." 

St. Paul declares, that his ability to work all manner 
of astonishing miracles, for the confirmation of his minis- 
try, was imparted to him by the Spirit. Rom. xv. 19. 
The same act of divine grace, viz., our spiritual birth, is 
ascribed without the change of a single letter to God and 
the Spirit. John ii. 1. 1 John v. 4. 

The chief texts produced to prove that divine worship 
is given to the Spirit are. Matt, xxiii. 19. Isa. vi. 3, 
compared with verse 9. Acts xxviii. 25, — &c. Rom. 
ix. 1. Rev. i. 4. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 

There are various texts of Scripture, in which. Father, 
Son, and Spirit, are mentioned together, and represented 
under distinct personal characters. 

At the baptism of Christ, the Father speaks with an 
audible voice, the Son in human nature is baptized by 
John, and the Holy Ghost appears in the shape of a dove. 
Matt. iii. 16, 17. 

The Trinity of persons in the Godhead appears from 
our baptism, because it is dispensed in the name of the 
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 

The Trinity of persons also appears from the apostolic 
benediction, " The grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of 
God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you 
all. Amen." 1 Cor. xiii. 14. And also from the testi- 
mony of the three in heaven, contained in 1 John v. 7. 
The Trinity in Unity is one Supreme Being, distinguished 



186 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

from all others by the name Jehovah. Deut. vl. 4. " The 
Lord our God is one Jehovah." Yet Christ is Jehovah. 
Jer. xxiii. 6. So is the Spirit. Ezek. viii. i. 3. There- 
fore Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are one Jehovah.. 
They are three persons, but have one name, and one na- 
ture. 

ARIANS. 

A denomination of the fourth century, which owed its 
origin to Arius, a man of subtle mind, and remarkable for 
his eloquence. He maintained that the Son was totally 
and essentially distinct from the Father. That he was 
the first and noblest of all those beings whom God the 
Father had created out of nothing, and the instrument by 
whose subordinate operation the Almighty Father formed 
the universe, and therefore inferior to the Father both in 
nature and in dignity.* He added that the Holy Spirit 
was of a different nature from that of the Father, and of 
the Son; and that he had been created by the Son. 
However, during the life of Arius, the disputes turned 
principally on the divinity of Christ. 

Such is the representation which is given of the opinion 
of Arius, and his immediate followers. The modern de- 
fenders of this system, to prove the subordination and in- 
feriority of Christ to God the Father, argue thus : 

There are various passages of Scripture, where the 
Father is styled the one or only God. Matt. xix. 17. 
^' Why callest thou me good ? there is none good but one, 
that is God." 

The Father is styled God with peculiarly high titles and 
attributes. See Matt. xv. 32. Mark v. 7, &c. It is said 
in Eph. iv. 6. " There is one God and Father of all, who 
is above all." 

-^ His followers deny that Christ had anything which could properly 
be called a divine nature, any otherwise than as anything very excellent 
may by a figure be called divine, or his delegated dominion ovei the 
system of nature might entitle him to the name of God. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 187 

Our Lord Jesus Christ expressly speaks of another God 
distinct from himself. Matt, xxvii. 46. John xx. 17. 
' Our Lord Jesus Christ not only owns another than him- 
self to be God; but also that he is above, and over him- 
self. He declares, that "his Father is greater than he." 
John xiv. 28. He says he came not in his own, but his 
Father's name and authority. That he sought not his 
own, but God's glory, nor made his own will but God's his 
rule ; and in such a posture of subjection he came down 
from heaven into this earth, that it should seem that na- 
ture which did pre-exist, did not possess the supreme will 
even before it was incarnate. 

Christ's saying, that he is of the Father must mean that 
he is derived from him ; and this necessarily implies, that 
he is neither self-existent nor eternal ; as the being derived 
from, must exist before another being can be derived from 
him. 

Christ professes his knowledge to be limited and inferior 
to the Father's. Mark xiii. 32. " Of that day knows no 
man, no not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the 
Father only." 

In like manner the apostle declares his subjection to 
another ; not only as his Father, but his God, which is 
emphatically expressed, in calling the most blessed God 
the God "of our Lord Jesus Christ," after his humiliation 
was over. Eph. i. 17. And the head of Christ is God. 
See also 1 Cor. xi. 3. 

It is said in 1 Cor. xv. 24, that " Christ will deliver 
up the kingdom to God, even the Father," therefore he 
will be subjected to him, and consequently inferior. 

There are various passages of Scripture in which it is 
declared, that all prayers and praises ought primarily to 
be offered to the Father. See Matt. iv. 10. John iv. 23. 
Acts iv. 24. 1 Cor. i. 4. Phil. i. 3, 4. 

The ancient Arian^s were divided among themselves, and 
torn into factions which regarded each other with the bit- 
terest aversion. Of these the ancient writers make men- 
tion under the names of Semi-Arians, Eusebians, Aetians, 



188 HISTOUY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 

Eunomians, Acacians, Psatyrians. and others. But tliej 
may all be included with the utmost propriety in three 
classes ; the first of these were the primitive and genuine 
Arians, who rejected all those forms and modes of expres- 
sion, which the moderns had invented to render their 
opinions less shocking to the Nicenians. They taught 
simply, that the Son was not begotten of the Father, i. e. 
produced out of his substance, but only created out of no- 
thing. This class was opposed by the Semi-Arians, who 
in their turn were abandoned by the Eunomians, or Ano- 
maeans, the disciples of Aetias and Eunomius. The Semi- 
Arians held, that the Son was similar to the Father in his 
essence, not by nature, but by a peculiar privilege. The 
Eunomians, who were also called Aetians and Exucon- 
tians, and may be counted in the number of pure Arians, 
maintained that Christ was unlike the Father in his essence, 
as well as in other respects : 

Under this general division were comprehended many 
subordinate sects, whose subtleties and refinements have 
been but obscurely developed by ancient writers. 

The opinion of the Arians concerning Christ difi'ers from 
the Gnostics chiefly in two respects. 

First, the Gnostics supposed the pre-existent spirit which 
was in Jesus, to have been an emanation from the Supreme 
Being, according to the principles of the philosophy of 
that age, which made creation out of nothing to be an im- 
possibility. But the Arians supposed the pre-existent 
spirit to have been properly created ; and to have animated 
the body of Christ, instead of the human soul. 

Secondly, the Gnostics supposed that the pre-existent 
spirit was not the Maker of the world, but was sent to rec- 
tify the evils which had been introduced by the being who 
made it. But the Arians supposed, that their Logos was- 
the being, whom God had employed in making the uni- 
verse, as well as in all his communic^t^ions with mankind. 

Those who hold the doctrine, which is usually called 
lo'&c Arianism say, that Christ pre-existed, but not as the 
eternal Logos of the Father, or as the beftig by whom ne 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 189 

made the worlds, and had intercourse with the patriarchs ; 
or as having any certain rank or employment whatever in 
the divine dispensation. As this doctrine had not any 
existence till late years, and the author of it is unknown, 
it has not got any specific name among writers. 

AEMINIANS, 

They derive their name from James Arminius, who was 
born in Holland in the year 1560. He was the first pas- 
tor at Amsterdam ; afterwards Professor of Divinity at 
Leyden, and attracted the esteem and applause of his very 
enemies, by his acknowledged candor, penetration, and 
piety. They received also the denomination of Remon- 
strants, from an humble petition entitled their remonstran- 
ces, which they addressed in the year 1610, to the States 
of Holland. 

The principal tenets of the Arminians are comprehended 
m five articles, to which are added a few of the arguments 
they make use of in defence of their sentiments. 

I. That the Deity has not fixed the future state of man- 
kind, by an absolute unconditional decree ; but determined, 
from all eternity, to bestow salvation on those whom he 
foresaw would persevere unto the end in their faith in Je- 
sus Christ ; and to inflict everlasting punishment on those 
who should continue in their unbelief, and resist unto the 
end his divine succors. 

For as the Deity is just^ holy, and merciful, wise in all 
his counsels, and true in all his declarations to the sons 
of men, it is inconsistent with his attributes, by an antece- 
dent decree, to fix our commission of so many sins, in such 
a manner, that there is no possibility for us to avoid them. 
.And he represents God dishonorably, who believes, that 
by his revealed will, he hath declared he would have all 
men to be saved ; and yet, by an antecedent secret will, he 
would have the greatest part of them to perish. That he 
hath imposed a law upon them, which he requires them tc 
obey, on penalty of his eternal displeasure, though he 



190 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

knows tliey cannot do it without his irresistible grace ; and 
yet is absolutely determined to withhold this grace from 
them, and then punish them eternally for what they could 
not do without his divine assistance. 

II. That Jesus Christ, by his death and sufferings, made 
an atonement for the sins of all mankind in general, and 
of every individual in particular : that, however, none but 
those who believe in him, can be partakers of their divine 
benefit. 

That is, the death of Christ put all men in a capacity of 
being justified and pardoned, upon condition of their faith, 
repentance, and sincere obedience to the laws of the new 
covenant. 

For the Scriptures declare, in a variety of places, — that 
Christ died for the whole world. John iii. 16, 17. " God 
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth on him, might not perish, but 
have everlasting life, &c." 1 John ii. 2. "He is the 
propitiation not only for our sins, but for the sins of the 
whole world." And the apostle expresses the same idea 
in Heb. ii. 9, when he says, " Christ tasted death 'for 



every man." Here is no limitation of that comprehensive 
phrase. 

If Christ died for those who perish, and for those who 
do not perish, he died for all. That he died for those who 
do not perish, is confessed by all ; and if he died for any 
who may or shall perish, there is the same reason to affirm 
that he died for all who perish. Now that he died for 
such, the Scripture says expressly, in 1 Cor. viii. 11. 
"And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother per- 
ish for whom Christ died." Hence it is evident Christ died 
for those who perish, and for those who do not perish; 
therefore he died for all men. 

III. That mankind are not totally depraved, and that 
depravity does not come upon them by virtue of Adam's 
being their public head ; but that mortality and natural 
evil only are the direct consequences of his sin to his pos- 
terity. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 191 

For, if all men are utterly disabled to all good, and con- 
tinually inclined to all manner of wickedness, it follows, 
that they are not moral agents. For how are we capable 
of performing duty, or of regulating our actions by a law 
commanding good and forbidding evil, if our minds are 
bent to nothing but what is evil ? Then sin must be natu- 
ral to us ; and if natural, then necessary, with regard to 
us ; and if necessary, then no sin. For what is natural to 
as, as hunger, thirst, &c., we can by no means hinder* 
and what we can by no means hinder, is not our sin. 
Therefore mankind are not totally depraved. 

That the sin of our first parents is not imputed to us, 
is evident ; because, as the evil action they committed was 
personal, so must their real guilt be personal and belong 
only to themselves. And we cannot, in the eye of justice 
and equity, be punishable for their transgression. 

IV. That there is no such thing as irresistible grace, in 
the conversion of sinners. 

For, if conversion be wrought only by the unfrustrable 
operation of God, and man is purely passive in it, vain are 
all the commands and exhortations to wicked men " to 
turn from their evil ways:" Isa. i. 16. "To cease to 
do evil, and learn to do well :" Deut. x. 16. "To put off 
the old man, and put on the new :" Eph. iv. 22. And 
divers other texts to the same purpose. Were an irresisti- 
ble power necessary to the conversion of sinners, no man 
could be converted sooner than he is ; because, before this 
irresistible action came upon him, he could not be con- 
verted, and when it came upon him, he could not resist its 
operations. And therefore no man could reasonably be 
blamed, that he lived so long in an unconverted state : and 
it could not be praiseworthy in any persoji who was con- 
verted, since no man can resist an unfrustrable operation. 

V. That those who are united to Christ by faith, may 
fall from their faith, and forfeit finally their state oi" grace. 

For the doctrine of a possibility of the final departure of 
true believers from the faith, is expressed in Heb. vi. 4, 
5, 6. " It is impossible for them who were once enlight- 



192 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

ened, kc. — if they shall fall away, to renew them again to 
repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of 
God afresh, ard put him to open shame." See also 2 
Peter, ii. 18, 20, 21, 22, and divers other passages of 
Scripture to the same purpose. 

All commands to persevere and stand fast in the faith, 
show that there is a possibility that believers may not stand 
fast and persevere unto the end. All cautions to Chris- 
tians not to fall from grace, are evidences and suppositions 
that they may fall. For what we have just reason to cau- 
tion any person against, must be something which may 
come to pass and be hurtful to him. Now such caution 
Christ gives his disciples ; Luke xxi. 34, 36. To them 
who had like precious faith with the apostles, St. Peter 
saith, " Beware lest being led away by the error of the 
wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness." 2 Pet. 
iii. 17. Therefore he did not look upon this as a thing 
impossible : and the doctrine of perseverance renders those 
exhortations and motives insignificant, which are so often 
to be found in Scripture. 

In these five points, which are considered as fundamental 
irticles in the Arminian system, the doctrine of the will's 
aaving a self-determining power is included. Perhaps 
some may wish to see a sketch of the arguments adduced 
to support this opinion. 

Dr. Clarke defines liberty to be a power of self-motion, 
or self-determination. This definition is embraced by all 
this denomination, and implies, that in our volitions we 
are not acted upon. Activity and being acted upon are 
incompatible with one another. In whatever instances, 
therefore, it is truly said of us, that we act, in those in- 
stances we cannot be acted upon. A being in receiving a 
change of its state from the exertion of an adequate force, 
is not an agent. Man therefore could not be an agent, 
were alJ his volitions derived from any force ; or the effects 
of any mechanical causes. In this case, it would be no 
moi"e true that he ever acts, than it is true of a ball that 
it acts, when struck by another ball. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 193 



CALIXTINS. 

A BEANCH of the Hussites in Bohemia and Moravia in 
the fifteenth century. The principal point in which they 
differed from the church of Rome, was the use of the 
Chalice, (Calix,) or communicating in both kinds. 

Calixtins was also a name given to those among the 
Lutherans, who followed the opinions of George Galixtus, 
a celebrated divine in the seventeenth century ; who en- 
deavoured to unite the Romish, Lutheran, and Calvinistic 
churches, in the bonds of charity and mutual benevolence. 

He maintained, 

I. That the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, by 
which he meant those elementary principles whence all Its 
truths flow, were preserved pure in all three communions, 
and were contained in that ancient form of doctrine, that 
is vulgarly known by the name of the Apostles' Creed. 

II. That the tenets and opinions which had been con- 
stantly received by the ancient doctors, during the first 
five centuries, were to be considered as of equal truth and 
authority with the express declarations and doctrines of 
Scripture. 

CALYINISTS. 

These derive their name from John Calvin, who was 
born at Nogen, in Picardy, in the year 1509. He first 
studied the civil law, and was afterwards made professor 
of divinity at Geneva, in the year 1536. His genius, 
learning, and eloquence, rendered him respectable even in 
the eyes of his very enemies. 

The principal tenets of the Calvinists are comprehended 
in five articles, to which are added a few of the arguments 
they employ in defence of their sentiments. 

I. That God has chosen a certain number in Christ unto 
everlasting glory, before the foundation of the world, ac- 
cording to his immutable purpose, and of his free grace 
13 



194 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGION. 

and love, without the least foresight of faith, good works, 
or any conditions performed bj the creature ; and that the 
rest of mankind he was pleased to pass by, and ordain 
them to dishonor and wrath for their sins, to the praise of 
his vindictive justice. 

For, as the Deity is infinitely perfect and independent 
in all his acts, the manifestation of his essential perfections 
must be the supreme end of the divine counsels and de- 
signs. Prov. xvi. 4. " The Lord hath made all things 
for himself, &c." Since God is omniscient, it is evident 
that he foresaw from everlasting whatever should come to 
pass : but there can be no prescience of future contingents ; 
for what is certainly foreseen, must infallibly come to 
pass ; consequently the prescience of the Deity cannot be 
antecedent to his decrees. 

The sacred Scriptures assert the doctrine of the divine 
sovereignty in the clearest terms. Rom. ix. 21. " Has 
not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, to 
make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor ?" 
See from verse 11 to the end of the chapter. The same 
divine author presents us with a golden chain of salvation 
in Rom. viii. 30. To the same purport see Eph. i. 4. 
Acts xiii. 48, and a variety of other passages in the 
sacred oracles. 

II. That Jesus Christ, by his death and sufferings, made 
an atonement for the sins of the elect only. 

That is, that redemption is commensurate with the di- 
vine decree. Christ has absolutely purchased grace, holi- 
ness, and all spiritual blessings for his people. 

For, if God really intended the salvation of all men, 
then no man can perish. " For the counsel of the Lord 
standeth forever." Psalms xxxiii. 11. There are ex- 
press texts of Scripture which testify that Christ did not 
die for all men. John vi. 37. " All that the Father 
giveth me, shall come to me, &c." and in John x. 11, 
Christ styles himself, " The good Shepherd, who lays down 
his life for his sheep." This is also implied in our Savi- 
our's limitation of his intercession. John xvii. 9. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 195 

To suppose that the death of Christ procured only a 
possibility of salvation, which depends upon our perfor- 
mance of certain conditions, is contradictory to those scrip- 
tures which assert that salvation is wholly owing to free 
sovereign grace. If Christ died for all, and all are not 
saved, the purposes of his death are in many instances 
frustrated, and he shed his precious blood in vain. To 
suppose this would be derogatory to the infinite perfections 
of the great Redeemer. Therefore he did not die for all, 
and all for whom he died will certainly be saved. 

III. That mankind are totally depraved in consequence 
of the fall ; and by virtue of Adam's being their public 
head, the guilt of his sin was imputed, and a corrupt na- 
ture conveyed to all his posterity, from which proceed all 
actual transgressions. And that by sin we are made 
subject to death, and all miseries, temporal, spiritual, and 
eternal. 

For the inspired pages assert the original depravity of 
mankind, in the most emphatical terms. Gen. viii. 21. 
"The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." 
Psalm xiv. 2, 3. " The Lord looked down from heaven 
upon the children of men, to see if there were any that 
did understand, and seek after God. They are all gone 
aside, they are altogether become filthy; there is none 
that doeth good, no, not one." To the same purport see 
Rom. iii. 10, 11. 12, &c. And it is evident, that Adam's 
sin was imputed to his posterity, from Rom. v. 19. "' By 
one man's disobedience many were made sinners," &c., 
The Scriptures also teach, that all sin exposes us to ever- 
lasting destruction. See Gal. iii. 10. 2 Cor. iii. 6, 7, 
and Rom. iv. 14. 

The total depravity of human nature is also evident 
from the universal reign of death over persons of all ages. 
From the propensity to evil which appears in mankind, 
and impels them to transgress God's law. From the ne- 
cessity of regeneration. The nature of redemption. And 
the remains of corruption in the saints. 

IV. That all whom God has predestinated unto life, he 



196 HTSTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

is pleased, in his appointed time, effectually to call by his 
word and spirit, out of that estate of sin and death, in 
which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Je- 
sus Christ. 

For an irresistible operation is evident from those pas- 
sages in Scripture, which express the efficacious virtue of 
divine grace in the conversion of sinners. Eph, i. 19. 
" And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to- 
wards us who believe," &c. Eph. ii. 1, 5. Phil. ii. 13, 
and divers other passages. If there was any thing in us 
which renders the grace of God effectual, we should have 
cause for boasting ; but the sacred pages declaim against 
this in the most emphatical terms. Rom. v. 27. " Where 
is boasting then? It is excluded," &c. See Titus iii. 5. 
1 Cor. i. 31, and a variety of other texts to the same 
purport. 

If the free will of man renders grace effectual, it may 
be made ineffectual by the same power, and so the crea- 
ture frustrate the designs of his Creator ; which is de- 
rogatory to the infinite perfections of that omnipotent 
Being, who worketh all things according to the counsel of 
his will. 

Y. That those whom God has effectually called and sanc- 
tified by his spirit, shall never finally fall from a state 
3f grace. 

For this doctrine is evident from the promises of perse- 
vering grace in the sacred Scriptures. Isa. liv. 10. "For 
the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but 
my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the 
covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that 
hath mercy on thee." See also Jer. xxxii. 38, 40. John 
iv. 14 ; vi. 39 ; x. 28 ; xi. 26. And the apostle exclaims 
with triumphant rapture, " I am persuaded that neither 
life, nor death, &c., shall be able to separate us from the 
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." Kom. 
viii. 38, 39. 

The perseverance of the saints is also evident from the 
immutability of the Deity ; his purposes and the reasons 



niSTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 197 

on which he founds them are invariable as himself. With 
him there is no variableness or shadow of turning. 
James i. 17. The faithfulness of the Deity is ever dis- 
played in performing his promises ; but the doctrine of 
falling from grace frustrates the design of the promises. 
For if one saint may fall, why not another, and a third, 
till no sincere Christians are left ? But the doctrine of 
the believer's perseverance remains firm, as it is supported 
by the express tenor of Scripture, the immutability of the 
Deity, and his faithfulness in performing his promises. 

These are the five points which distinguish this denomi- 
nation from the Arminians. The Calvinistic system also 
includes in it, the doctrine of three co-ordinate persons in 
the Godhead forming one nature, and of two natures in 
Jesus Christ forming one person. Justification by faith 
alone and the imputed righteousness of Christ form an 
essential part of this system. They suppose, that on the 
one hand, our sins are imputed to Christ, and on the other, 
that we are justified by the imputation of Christ's right- 
eousness to us ; i. e. we the guilty are treated by God as 
righteous persons, out of regard to what Christ has done 
and sufi'ered ; who, though perfectly innocent, was appoin- 
ted to suffer by the imputation of our sins to him. The 
Calvinists suppose that the doctrine of Christ's sufi'ering 
in the place of sinners is strongly expressed in a variety 
of passages in Scripture. As Isa. liii. 4, 5, 6. '^ He 
has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was 
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our 
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, 
and with his stripes we are healed." 1 Pet. ii. 25. 
" Who himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree, 
that we, being dead unto sin should live unto righteous- 
ness." There are also a number of other texts to the same 
import. 



198 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 



COCCEIANS. 

A DENOMINATION wliicli arose in tlie seventeenth cen- 
tury, so called from John Cocceius, Professor of Divinity 
in the University of Leyden. He represented the whole 
history of the Old Testament as a mirror, which held forth 
an accurate view of the transactions and events, that were 
to happen in the church under the dispensation of the New 
Testament, and unto the end of the world. He main- 
tained that by far the greatest part of the ancient pro- 
phecies foretold Christ's ministry and mediation, and the 
rise, progress, and revolutions of the church, not only 
under the figure of persons, and transactions, but in a 
literal manner, and by the very sense of the words used 
in these predictions. And laid it down as a fundamental 
rule of interpretation, that the words and phrases of Scrip- 
ture are to be understood in every sense of which they are 
susceptible. Or, in other words, that they signify in 
effect every thing that they can possibly signify. 

Cocceius also taught that the covenant made between 
God and the Jewish nation, by the ministry of Moses, was 
of the same nature of the new covenant, obtained by the 
mediation of Jesus Christ. 

In consequence of this general principle, he maintained: 
That the ten commandments were promulgated by Moses, 
not as a rule of obedience, but as a representation of the 
covenant of grace. That when the Jews had provoked 
the Deity by their various transgressions, particularly by 
the worship of the golden calf, the severe and servile yoke 
of the ceremonial law was added to the decalogue, as a 
punishment inflicted on them by the Supreme Being in his 
righteous displeasure. That this yoke which was painful 
in itself, became doubly so on account of its typical signifi- 
cation, since it admonished the Israelites, from day to day, 
of the imperfection and uncertainty of their state, filled 
them with anxiety, and was a perpetual proof that they 
had merited the righteous displeasure of God, and could 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 199 

not expect, before tlie coming of the Messiah, the entire 
remission of their iniquities. That indeed good men, even 
under the Mosaic dispensation, were immediately after 
death made partakers of everlasting glory. But, that they 
were nevertheless, during the whole course of their lives, 
far removed from that firm hope and assurance of salva- 
tion, which rejoices the faithful under the dispensation of 
the gospel. And that their anxiety flowed naturally from 
this consideration, that their sins, though they remain un- 
punished, were not pardoned ; because Christ had not, as 
yet, oifered himself up a sacrifice to the Father to make 
an entire atonement for them. 



GNOSTICS. 

This denomination sprang up in the first century. 
Several of the disciples of Simon Magus held the principles 
of his philosophy, together with the profession of Christi- 
anity, and were distinguished by the appellation of Gnos- 
tics, from their boasting of being able to restore mankind 
to the knoivledge of the Supreme Being, which had been 
lost in the world. This party was not conspicuous for its 
numbers or reputation before the time of Adrian.* It de- 
rives its origin from the Oriental philosophy. The doc- 
trine of a soul, distinct from the body, which had pre-ex- 
isted in an angelic state, and was, for some offence com- 
mitted in that state, degraded, and confined to the body 
as a punishment, had been the great doctrine of the eastern 
sages from time immemorial. Not being able to conceive 
how evil in so great an extent, could be subservient to 
good, they supposed that good and evil have difierent 
origins. So mixed a system as this is, they therefore 
thought to be unworthy of infinite wisdom and goodness. 
They looked upon matter as the source of all evil, and 



* Under the general appellation of Gnostics, are comprehended all 
those, who, in the first ages of Christianity, blended the Oriental philoa- 

ephy with the doctrines of the gospel. 



200 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

argued in tliis manner : There are many evils in this world, 
and men seem impelled, by a natural instinct, to the prac- 
tice of those things which reason condemns ; but that 
eternal Mind, from which all spirits derive their existence, 
must be inaccessible to all kinds of evil, and also of a most 
perfect and beneficent nature. Therefore the origin of 
those evils, with which the universe abounds, must be 
sought somewhere else than in the Deity. It cannot re- 
side in him who is all perfection ; therefore, it must be 
without him. Now there is nothing without or beyond 
the Deity but matter ; therefore matter is the centre and 
source of all evil and of all vice. Having taken for granted 
these principles, they proceed further, and affirmed that 
matter was eternal, and derived its present form, not from 
the will of the supreme God, but from the creating power 
of some inferior intelligence, to whom the world and its 
inhabitants owed their existence. As a proof of their 
assertion, they alleged that it was incredible the supreme 
Deity, perfectly good, and infinitely removed from all evil, 
should either create, or modify matter, which is essentially 
malignant and corrupt ; or bestow upon it, in any degree, 
the riches of his wisdom and liberality. 

In their system it was generally supposed that all intel- 
ligences had only one source, viz., the divine Mind. And 
to help out the doctrine concerning the origin of evil, it 
was imagined, that though the divine Being himself was 
essentially and perfectly good, those intelligences, or spir- 
its, who were derived from him, and especially those who 
were derived from them, were capable of depravation. It 
was further imagined, that the derivation of those inferior 
intelligent beings from the Supreme, was by a kind of ef- 
flux or emanation, a part of the substance being detached 
from the rest, but capable of being absorbed into it again.* 



* The great boast of the Gnostics was their doctrine concerning the 
derivation of various intelligences from the Supreme Mind, which they 
thought to be done by emanation or efflux. And as those were 
equally capable of producing other intelligences in the same manner 



HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 201 

To those intelligences derived mediately or immediately 
from the divine Mind, the author of this system did not 
scruple to give the name of gods, thinking some of them 
capable of a power of modifying matter. 

The oriental sages expected the arrival of an extraordi- 
nary messenger of the Most High upon earth ; a messen- 
ger invested with a divine authority ; endowed with the 
most eminent sanctity and wisdom ; and peculiarly ap- 
pointed to enlighten with the knowledge of the Supreme 
Being, the darkened minds of miserable mortals, and 
to deliver them from the chains of the tyrants and usurp- 
ers of this world. When therefore some of these philoso- 
phers perceived that Christ and his followers wrought 
miracles of the most amazing kind, and also of the most 
salutary nature to mankind, they were easily induced to 
connect their fundamental doctrines with Christianity, by 
supposing him the great messenger expected from above, 
to deliver men from the power of the malignant genii, or 
spirits, to whom, according to their doctrine, the world 
was subjected, and to free their souls from the dominion 
of corrupt matter. But though they considered him as 
the Son of the Supreme God, sent from the pleroma, or habi- 
tation of the everlasting Father, they denied his divinity, 
looking upon him as inferior to the Father. They rejec- 
ted his humanity, upon the supposition that every thing 
concrete and corporeal is in itself essentially and intrinsi- 
cally evil. Hence the greatest part of the Gnostics de- 
nied that Christ was clothed with a real body, or that he 
suffered really for the sake of mankind, the pains and sor 
rows which he is said to have endured in the sacred history 
They maintained, that he came to mortals with no other 
view, than to deprive the tyrants of this world of their in- 
fluence upon virtuous and heaven born souls, and destroy- 



and some of them were male, and others female, there was room for 
endhss combinations of them. It is supposed, that the apostle Paul, 
when he censures endless genealogies and fables, has reference to the 
philosophj" of the Gnostics. 



20£ HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

ing the empire of these wicked spirits, to teach mankind 
how they might separate the divine mind from the impure 
body, and render the former worthy of being united to 
the Father of spirits. 

Their persuasion, that evil resided in matter, rendered 
them unfavorable to wedlock ; and led them to hold the 
doctrine of the resurrection of the body in great contempt. 
They considered it as a mere clog to the immortal soul ; 
and supposed, that nothing was meant by it, but either a 
mora! change in the minds of men, which took place before 
they died ; or that it signified the ascent of the soul to its 
proper abode in the superior regions, when it was disen- 
gaged from its earthly encumbrance. The notion, which 
this denomination entertained, that the malevolent genii 
presided in nature, and that from them proceed all dis- 
eases and calamities, wars and desolations, induced them 
to apply themselves to the study of magic, to weaken 
the powers, or suspend the influences of these malignant 
agents. 

The Gnostic doctrine concerning the creation of the world 
by one or more inferior beings of an evil, or at least of an 
imperfect nature, led them to deny the divine authority of 
the books of the Old Testament ; and when they were chal- 
lenged to produce authorities for their doctrines, some re- 
ferred to writings of Abraham, Zoroaster, Christ, and his 
apostles. Others boasted of their having drawn their 
opinions from secret doctrines of Christ. Others, that 
they had arrived to these degrees of wisdom by an innate 
vigor of mind. Others, that they were introduced by 
Theudas, a disciple of St. Paul, and by Matthias, one of 
the friends of our Lord. 

As the Gnostics were philosophic and speculative peo- 
ple, and affected refinement, they did not make much ac- 
count of public worship, or of positive institutions of any 
kind. They are said, not to have had any order in their 
churches. 

As many of this denomination thought that Christ had 
not aiiy real body, and therefore had not any proper flesh 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 203 

and blood, it seems on this account, when they used to 
celebrate the Eucharist, they did not make any use of 
wine, which represents the blood of Christ, but of water 
only. 

We have fewer accounts of what they thought or did 
with respect to baptism, but it seems that some of them at 
least disused it. And it is said, that some abstained from 
the Eucharist, and from prayer. 

The greatest part of this denomination adopted rules of 
life, which were full of austerity, recommending a strict 
and rigorous abstinence, and prescribed the most severe 
bodily mortifications, from a notion, that they had a happy 
influence in purifying and enlarging the mind, and in dis- 
posing it for the contemplation of celestial things. That 
some of the Gnostics, in consequence of making no account 
of the body, might think, that there was neither good nor 
evil in any thing relating to it, and therefore supposed 
themselves at liberty to indulge in any sensual excesses, is 
not impossible; though it is more probable, that every 
thing of this nature would be greatly exaggerated by the 
enemies of this denomination. 

The Egyptian Gnostics are distinguished from the Asia- 
tic, by the following difi'erence in their religious system : 

I. That besides the existence of a Deity, they maintained 
that also of an eternal matter, endued with life and mo- 
tion, yet they did not acknowledge an eternal principle 
of darkness, or the evil principle of the Persians. 

II. They supposed that our blessed Saviour was a com- 
pound of two persons, of the man Jesus, and of Christ the 
Son of God; that the divine nature entered into the 
man Jesus, when he was baptized by John in the river 
Jordan, and departed from him, when he was seized by 
the Jews. 

III. They attributed to Christ a real, not an imaginary 
body. 

IV. Their discipline, with respect to life and manners, 
was much less severe than that of the Asiatic sect. 



204 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 



SOOINIANS. 

A DENOMINATION whicli appeared in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, and embraced the opinions of Lelius Socimis, a man 
of uncommon genius and learning ; and of Faustus So- 
cinus, his nephew, who propagated his uncle's sentiments 
in a public manner after his death. 

The principal tenets maintained by this denomination 
are as follow : to which are added a few of the arguments 
they use in defence of their sentiments. 

That the Holy Scriptures are to be understood and ex- 
plained in such a manner, as to render them conformable 
to the dictates of reason. 

In consequence of this leading point in their theology, 
they maintain, that God, who is infinitely more perfect 
than man, though of a similar nature in some respects, ex- 
erted an act of that power by which he governs all things ; 
in consequence of which, an extraordinary person was 
born of the Virgin Mary. That person was Jesus Christ, 
whom God first translated to heaven by that portion 
of his divine power which is called the Holy Ghost;* and 
having instructed him fully in the knowledge of his coun- 
sels and designs, sent him again into this sublunary world, 
to promulgate to mankind a new rule of life, more excel- 
lent than that under which they had formerly lived, to 
propagate divine truth by his ministry, and to confirm it 
by his death. 

* SociDus and some of his followers entertained a notion, of Christ's 
having been in some unknown time of his life, taken up personally into 
heaven, and sent down again to the earth, which was the way in which 
they solved these expressions concerning him : John iii. 13. " No man 
has ascended to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the 
Bon of man, which is in heaven/' Thus Moses who was the type of 
Christ, before the promulgation of the law, ascended to God upon 
Mount Sinai. So Christ, liefore he entered on the office assigned him 
by the Father, was, in consequence of the divine counsel and agency, 
translated into heaven, that he might see the things he had to announce 
to the world in the name of God himsel£ 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 2Gf 

That those who obey the voice of this divine teacher 
(and this obedience is in the power of every one whose will 
and inclination leads that way) shall, one day, be clothed 
with new bodies, and inhabit, eternally, those blessed re- 
gions, where God himself immediately resides. Such, on 
the contrary, as are disobedient and rebellious, shall un- 
dergo most terrible and exquisite torments, which shall be 
succeeded by annihilation, or the total extinction of their 
being. 

The above is an account of the religious tenets of Soci- 
nus, and his immediate followers. Those at the present 
day, who maintain the mere humanity of Christ, differ 
from Socinus in many things ; particularly in not paying 
religious worship to Jesus Christ, which was a point that 
Faustus Socinus vehemently insisted on, though he con- 
sidered Christ as a man only, with divine powers confer- 
red upon him. He supposed, that in condescension to 
human weakness, in order that mankind might have one 
of their own brethren more upon a level with them, to 
whom they might have resource in their straits and neces- 
sities. Almighty Grod, for his eminent virtues, had con- 
ferred upon Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, some years 
after he was born, a high divine power, lordship, and do- 
minion, for the government of the Christian world only • 
and had qualified him to hear and answer the prayers of 
his followers, in such matters as related to the cause of 
the gospel. The chief foundation on which Socinus 
founded the opinion of Christ's being an object of religious 
worship, was : the declarations in the Scriptures concerning 
the kingdom and power bestowed upon Christ ; the inter- 
pretation which he put on those passages which speak of 
angels and heavenly powers being put under him and wor- 
shiping him; his having a knowledge of the secret 
thoughts of men imparted to him, and the like, which with 
some presumed instances of the fact, of prayer being ac- 
tually made to him, he maintained to be a sufficient, 
though indirect, signification of the divine will, that men 
-rhoul^ invoke Christ by prayer. But he constantly ac- 



20C) IIISTOEY OF ALL KELIGIONS. 

knowledged, tliat there was no express precept for making 
him an object of religious worship. 

Socinus allowed that the title of true God might be 
given to Christ ; though all he meant by it was, that he 
had a real divine power and dominion bestowed upon him, 
to qualify him to take care of the concerns of Christians, 
and to hear and answer their prayers, though he was origi- 
nally nothing more than a human creature. 

There were some among the early Socinians, who disap- 
proved and rejected the worship paid to Christ, as being 
without any foundation in the Holy Scriptures, the only 
rule of a Christian's faith and worship. 

At present it is agreed, both by Arians and Socinians, 
that the Supreme God in one person is the only object of 
prayer. 

Socinus was a strict Pelagian, in his sentiments respect- 
ing human nature. 

This denomination differs from the Arians, in the follow- 
ing particulars : 

The Socinians assert, that Christ was simple/ a man, 
and consequently, had no existence before his birth arid 
appearance in this world. 

The Arians maintain, that Christ was a super-angelic 
being, united to a human body. That though he was him- 
self created, he was the creator of all other things under 
God, and the instrument of all the divine communications 
to the patriarchs. 

The Socinians say, that the Holy Ghost is the power 
and wisdom of God, which is God. 

The Arians suppose, that the Holy Spirit is the crea- 
ture of the Son, and subservient to him in the work of re- 
demption. 

SERYETIANS. 

A NAME which, in the 16th century, distinguished the 
followers of Michael Servetus, a Spaniard by birth. He 
taught that the Deity, before the creation of the world, 
had produced within himself two personal representations, 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 207 

or maimers of existence, which were to he the medium of 
intercourse between him and mortals, and by whom, con- 
sequently, he was to reveal his will, and to display his 
mercy and beneficence to the children of men. That these 
twa representatives were the Word and the Holy Ghost — 
that the former was united to the man Christ, who was 
born of the Virgin Mary, by an omnipotent act of the di- 
vine will; and that, on this account, Christ might be 
properly called God — that the Holy Spirit directed the 
course, and animated the whole system of nature ; and 
more especially produced in the minds of men, wise coun- 
sels, virtuous propensities, and divine feelings. And 
finally, that these two representations were to cease after 
the destruction of this terrestrial globe, and to be absorbed 
into the substance of the Deity, whence they had been 
formed. 



NECESSARIANS. 

Leibnitz, a celebrated German philosopher, who was 
born in the year 1646, is a distinguished writer on this 
subject. He attempted to give Calvinism a more pleasing 
and philosophical aspect. He considered the multiplicity 
of worlds, which compose the universe, as one system or 
whole, whose greatest possible perfection is the ultimate end 
of creating goodness, and the sovereign purpose of govern- 
ing wisdom. As the Leibnians laid down this great end, 
as the supreme object of God's universal dominion, and 
the scope to which all his dispensations were directed, they 
concluded, that if this end was proposed, it must be ac- 
complished. Hence the doctrine of necessity, to fulfill the 
purposes of predestination founded on wisdom and good- 
ness ; a .necessity physical and mechanical in the motions 
of material and inanimate things ; but a necessity moral 
and spiritual in the voluntary determinations of intelligent 
beings, in consequence of prepollent motives, which pro- 
duce their efi'ects with certainty, though those effects are 



208 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

contingent, and by no means the offspring of an absolute 
and essentially immutable fatality.* 

Mr. Leibnitz observes, that, if it be said, that the world 
might have been without sin and misery, such a world 
would not have been the best. For all things are linked 
together in each possible world. The universe, whatever 
it may be, is all of a piece, like an ocean ; the least motion 
produces its effect to any distance, though the effect be- 
comes less sensible in proportion to the distance. God 
having settled every thing beforehand, once for all, having 
foreseen good and evil actions, &c., every thing did ideally 
contribute, before its existence, to his creating plan ; so 
that no alteration can be made in the universe, any more 
than in a number, without destroying its essence, or its 
numerical individuality. And therefore if the least evil 
which happens in the world was wanting, it would not be 
the world, which all things duly considered, the all-wise 
Creator has chosen and accounted the best. 

Colors are heightened by shadows, and a dissonance, 
well placed, renders harmony more beautiful. We desire 
to be frightened by rope-dancers who are ready to fall"; 
and to shed tears at the representation of a tragedy. 
Does any one sufficiently relish the happiness of good 
health, that has never been sick ? Is it not most times 
necessary, that a little evil should render a good more 
sensible, and consequently greater ? 

The Edwardean scheme of moral necessity is as follows : 

That the will is, in every case, necessarily determined 
by the strongest motives ; and that this moral necessity 
may be as absolute as natural necessity ; ^. e. a moral ef- 
fect may be as perfectly connected with its moral cause, 
as a naturally necessary effect is with its natural cause. 

President Edwards rejects the notion of liberty, as im- 

* Augustine, Leibnitz, and a considerable number of modern philoso- 
phers who maintain the doctrine of necessity, consider this necessity 
ID mc-al actions as consistent with spontaneity and choice. Accord- 
ing tc them, constraint alone, and external force, destroy merit and 
imputation. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 209 

plying any self-determining power in the will, any indiffer- 
ence or contingency ; and defines liberty to be the power, 
opportunity, and advantage, which any one has to do as 
he pleases. This liberty is supposed to be consistent with 
moral certainty, or necessity. 

He supports his scheme by the connection between cause 
and effect — by God's certain foreknowledge of the volitions 
of moral agents, which is supposed to be inconsistent with 
such a contingence of those volitions, as excludes all neces- 
sity. He shows that God's moral excellence is necessary, 
yet virtuous and praise-worthy — that the acts of the will 
of the human soul of Christ are necessarily holy, yet virtu- 
ous, praise-worthy, and rewardable — and that the moral 
inability of sinners, consisting in depravity of heart, instead 
of excusing, constitutes their guilt. 

Lord Kames has the following idea of necessity : 

That, comparing together the moral and material world, 
every thing is as much the result of established laws in the 
one as in the other. There is nothing in the whole uni- 
verse, which can properly be called contingent ; but every 
motion in the material, and every determination and action 
in the moral world, are directed by immutable laws ; so 
that while those laws remain in force, not the smallest link 
in the chain of causes and effects can be broken, nor any 
one thing be otherwise than it is. 

That as man must act with consciousness and spontane- 
ity, it is necessary that he should have some sense of things 
possible and contingent. Hence the Deity has wisely im- 
planted a delusive sense of liberty in the mind of man ; 
which fits him to fulfill the ends of action to better advan- 
tage, than he could do, if he knew the necessity which 
really attends him. 

Lord Kames observes, that in the material world, it is 
found, that the representations of external objects, and 
their qualities, conveyed by the senses, differ sometimes 
from what philosophy discovers these objects and their 
qualities to be. Were man endowed with a microscopic 
eye, the bodies which surround him would appear as differ 
14 



210 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

ent from wliat they do at present, as if lie was transported 
into another world. His ideas, upon that supposition, 
would be more agreeable to strict truth, but they would be 
far less serviceable in common life. 

Analogous to this, in the moral world, the Deity has 
implanted in mankind the delusive notion of liberty or indif- 
ference, that they may be led to the proper exercise of that 
activity, for which they were designed. 

The Baron de Montesquieu, in his Persian Letters, ob- 
serves, that as God makes his creatures act just according 
to his own will, he knows every thing he thinks fit to know. 
But though it is in his power to see every thing, yet he 
does not always make use of that power. He generally 
leaves his creatures at liberty to act, or not act, that they 
may have room to be guilty or innocent. In this view he 
renounces his right of acting upon his creatures, and direct- 
ing their resolutions. But when he chooses to know any 
thing, he always does know it ; because he need only will 
that it shall happen as he sees it ; and direct the resolu- 
tions of his creatures according to his will. Thus he 
fetches the things, which shall happen, from among those 
which are merely possible, by fixing by his decrees the fu- 
ture determinations of the minds of his creatures; and 
depriving them of the power of acting, or not acting, which 
he has bestowed upon them. 

If we may presume to make comparison of a thing, 
which is above all comparison, a monarch does not know 
what his ambassador will do in an aifair of importance. If 
he thinks fit to know it, he need only give him directions 
to behave so and so ; and he may be assured he will follow 
his directions. 

President Edwards makes the following distinction be- 
tween his, and Lord Kame's ideas of necessity : 

I. Lord Kames supposes, that such a necessity takes 
place with respect to ail men's actions, as is inconsistent 
with liberty. Edwards maintains, that the moral neces- 
sity, which universally takes place, is not inconsistent 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 21] 

with the utmost liberty, which can be defined, or con- 
ceived. 

II. Karnes seems every where to suppose, that neces- 
sity, properly so called, attends all men's actions ; and that 
the terms "unavoidable," "impossible," &c., are equally 
applicable to the case of moral and natural necessity. 

Edwards maintains, that such a necessity as attends the 
acts of men's wills, can with more propriety be called cer- 
tainty; it being no other, than the certain connection be- 
tween the subject and predicate of the proposition, which 
affirms their existence. 

III. Kames supposes, that if mankind could clearly see 
the real necessity of their actions, they would not appear 
to themselves, or others, praiseworthy, culpable, or ac- 
countable for their actions. 

Edwards maintains, that moral necessity, or certainty, is 
perfectly consistent with praise and blame, rewards and 
punishments. 

Lord Kames agrees with president Edwards, in suppos- 
ing, that praise or blame rests ultimately on the disposi- 
tion, or frame of mind. 

The Rev. Mr. Dawson in a late pamphlet entitled. The 
Necessarian, or the Question concerning Liberty and 
Necessity stated and discussed, endeavors to prove, that 
the will is determined by motives. He accounts, however, 
every act, which proceeds not from mechanical force, a 
voluntary act. Every voluntary act he calls a free act, 
because it proceeds from the will, from the man himself. 
But calls that voluntary act necessary, in conformity to 
their idea of necessity, who, on supposition of the will's 
being determined by motives, will not allow it to be free, 
though voluntary. Having established this species of 
necessity, he endeavors to show that free will leaves no 
foundation for attributing merit, or demerit, to the agent. 
And, that on the contrary, the doctrine of necessity does 
that, which the doctrine of free will does not. By leaving 
the foundation of morality secure, it leaves a foundation 
for merit and demerit, viz., the moral nature of actions. 



212 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

The morality of an action is its motive. That, which 
gives the action its moral quality, gives it at the same 
time its worth, or merit. But on the doctrine of free will 
there can be no foundation for attributing merit, or demerit, 
to the agent, because it destroys all distinctions between 
actions ; good and bad being terms without a meaning, 
when applied to actions without a moral motive. 

As in the account of Dr. Priestley's sentiments, the 
manner in which that celebrated author distinguishes his 
scheme of philosophical necessity from the Calvinistic doc- 
trine of predestination is inserted, perhaps those, who are 
fond of speculating on this subject, will be gratified, by 
being presented, on the other hand, with the following 
distinction, which the Rev. Mr. Emmons of Eranklin has 
made between the Calvinistic idea of necessity, and Dr. 
Priestley's. 

It has long been a subject of controversy among Armin- 
ians and Calvinists, whether moral agents can act of neces- 
sity. Upon this subject. Dr. Priestley takes the Calvin- 
istic side, and labors to prove the doctrine of necessity 
upon the general principle, that no effect can exist without 
a cause. His train of reasoning runs very much in this 
form : Every volition must be an effect ; every effect must 
have a cause; every cause must necessarily produce its 
effect ; therefore every volition, as well as every other 
effect, must be necessary. But though he agrees with 
Calvinists in their first principle, and general mode of 
reasoning ; yet, in one very capital point, he differs from 
them totally. For he maintains, that motives, which are 
the cause of volitions, must operate mechanically, which, 
they suppose, totally destroys the freedom of the will. 
He is obliged to maintain the mechanical operation of 
motives, by his maintaining the materiality of the soul. 
If the soul is material, the natural conclusion is, that mo- 
tives must act upon it, by a mechanical operation. This 
conclusion, he owns, he means to draw from the doctrine 
of materialism. In the preface to his illustrations of 
philosophical necessity, he says, "Every thing belonging 



HISTORTf OP ALL RELIGIONS. 213 

to the doctrine of materialism is, in fact, an argument for 
the doctrine of necessity ; and, consequently, the doctrine 
of necessity is a direct inference from materialism." 

JANSENISTS. 

A DENOMINATION of Roman Catholics in France, which 
was formed in the year 1640. They follow the opinions 
of Jansenius, bishop of Ypres, from whose writings the 
following propositions are said to have been extracted : 

I. That there are divine precepts, which good men, not- 
withstanding their desire to observe them, are, nevertheless, 
absolutely unable to obey ; nor has God given them that 
measure of grace, which is essentially necessary to render 
them capable of such obedience. 

II. That no person, in this corrupt state of nature, can 
resist the influence of divine grace, when it operates upon 
the mind. 

III. That in order to render human actions meritorious, 
it is not requisite that they be exempt from necessity, but 
that they be free from constraint. 

lY. That the Semi-Pelagians err greatly in maintain- 
ing that the human will is endowed with the power of 
either receiving, or resisting the aids and influences of 
preventing grace. 

V. That whoever affirms, that Jesus Christ made expia- 
tion, by his sufierings and death, for the sins of all man- 
kind, is a Semi-Pelagian. 

This denomination was also distinguished from many of 
the Roman Catholics, by their maintaining that the Holy 
Scriptures and public Liturgies should be offered to the 
perusal of the people in their mother tongue. And they 
look upon it as a matter of the highest moment to persuade 
all Christians, that true piety does not consist in the pjer- 
formance of external acts of devotion, but in inward holi- 
ness and divine love. 



214 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 



JESUITS. 

A FAMOUS religious order in the Romish church, estab- 
lished in the year 1540, under the name of the company 
of Jesus. 

Ignio, or Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish gentleman of illus- 
trious rank, was the founder of this order, which has made 
a most rapid and astonishing progress through the world. 

The doctrinal points which are ascribed to the Jesuits, 
in distinction from many others of the Roman communion, 
are as follows : 

I. This order maintain, that the pope is infallible — 
that he is the only visible source of that universal and 
unlimited power which Christ has granted to the church — 
that all bishops and subordinate rulers derive from him 
alone the authority and jurisdiction with which they are 
invested ; and that he alone is the supreme law-giver of 
that sacred community ; a law-giver whose edicts and com- 
mands it is, in the highest degree, criminal to oppose, or 
disobey. 

II. They comprehend within the limits of the church, 
not only many who live separate from the communion of 
Rome, but even extend the inheritance of eternal salva- 
tion to nations that have not the least knowledge of the 
christian religion, or of its divine author; and consider 
as true members of the church, open transgressors who 
profess its doctrines. 

III. The Jesuits maintain, that human nature is far 
from being deprived of all power of doing good — that the 
succors of grace are administered to all mankind in a mea- 
sure sufficient to lead them to eternal life and salvation — 
that the operations of grace offer no violence to the fac- 
ulties and powers of nature, and therefore may be resisted 
— and that God from all eternity has appointed everlast- 
ing rewards and punishments, as the portion of men in a 
future world, not by an absolute, arbitrary, and .uncondi- 
tional decree, but in consequence of that divine and un- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 215 

limited prescience by which he foresaw the actions, merits, 
and characters of every individual. 

IV. They represent it as a matter of perfect indiffer- 
ence from what motives men obey the laws of God, pro- 
vided these laws are really obeyed. And maintain, that 
the service of those who obey from the fear of punishment, 
is as agreeable to the Deity, as those actions which pro- 
ceed from a principle of love to him and his laws. 

y. They maintain, that the sacraments have in them- 
selves an instrumental and efficient power, by virtue of 
which they work in the soul (independently of its previous 
preparation or propensities) a disposition to receive the 
divine grace. 

VI. The Jesuits recommend a devout ignorance to such 
as submit to their direction, and think a Christian suffi- 
ciently instructed, when he has learned to yield a blind 
and unlimited obedience to the orders of the Church. 

The following maxims are said to be extracted from the 
moral writings of this order : 

I. That persons truly wicked, and void of the love of 
God, may expect to obtain eternal life in heaven, provided 
that they be impressed with a fear of the divine anger, 
and avoid all heinous and enormous crimes, through the 
dread of future punishment. 

II. That those persons may transgress with safety, who 
have a probable reason for transgressing, i. e. any plausi- 
ble argument or authority in favor of the sin they are in- 
clined to commit. 

III. That actions intrinsically evil, and directly con- 
trary to the divine law, may be innocently performed by 
those who have so much power over their own minds as to 
join, even ideally, a good end to this wicked action. 

IV. That philosophical sin is of a very light and trivial 
nature, and does not deserve the pains of hell. 

V. That the transgressions committed by a person 
blinded by the seductions of tumultuous passions, and des- 
titute of all sense and impression of religion, however de- 
testable and heinous they may be in themselves, are not 



216 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

imputable to tlie transgressor before the tribunal of God ; 
and that such transgressions may be often as involuntary 
as the actions of a madman. 

VI. That the person who takes an oath, or enters into 
a contract, may, to elude the force of the one and obliga- 
tion of the other, add to the form of the words that ex- 
press them certain mental additions and tacit reservations. 

This entire society is composed of four sorts of members, 
viz. Novices, Scholars, spiritual and temporal Coadjutors, 
and professed Members. Beside the three ordinary vows 
of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which are common to 
all the monastic tribes, the professed Members are obliged 
to take a fourth, by which they solemnly bind themselves 
to go, without deliberation or delay, wherever the Pope 
shall think fit to send them. They are governed by a 
General, who has four Assistants. 

SHAKERS. 

The first persons who acquired this epithet were Europe- 
ans ; a part of whom came from England to New York, in 
the year 1774, and being joined by others, they settled at 
Niskyuna, above Albany ; whence they have spread their 
doctrines, and increased to a considerable number. 

Anne Lee, whom they styled the Elect Lady, was the 
head of this party. They assert, that she was the woman 
spoken of in the twelfth chapter of Revelation ; and that 
she spoke seventy-two tongues : and though those tongues 
are unintelligible to the living, she conversed with the 
dead, who understood her language. They add further, 
that she was the mother of all the elect ; that she travailed 
for the whole world; and that no blessing can descend 
to any person, but only by and through her, and that in 
the way of her being possessed of their sins, by their con- 
fessing and repenting of them, one by one, according to 
her direction. 

The tenets which are peculiarly distinguishing to this 
denomination, are comprised in seven articles. To which 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 217 

is added a short specimen of their manner of defending 
their religious sentiments : 

I. That the first resurrection is already come, and now 
is the time to judge themselves. 

II. That they have power to heal the sick, to raise the 
dead, and to cast out devils. 

This, they say, is performed by the preaching of the 
word of God, when it is attended with the divine power, 
the wonderful energy and operation of the Holy Spirit ; 
which performs those things, by healing the broken-hearted, 
by raising up those, who are dead in trespasses and sins, 
to a life of holiness and righteousness, which causes the 
devils to be cast out. Matt. x. 8. 

III. That they have a correspondence with angels, the 
spirits of the saints, and their departed friends. 

This they attempt to prove, from 1 Cor. xii. 8, 10. " There 
are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. To some is 
given the word of wisdom, to some prophecy, to some the 
discerning of Spirits." 

lY. That they speak with divers kind of tongues in 
their public assemblies. 

This, they think, is done by the divine power and in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit. 

V. That it is lawful to practice vocal music with dan- 
cing, in the Christian churches, if it be practiced in prais- 
ing the Lord. 

VI. That their Church is come out of the order of na- 
tural generation, to be as Christ was ; and that those who 
have wives be as though they had none. That by these 
means heaven begins upon earth, and they hereby lose 
their earthly and sensual relation to Adam the first, and 
come to be transparent in their ideas in the bright and 
heavenly visions of God. 

They suppose, that some of their people are of the num- 
ber "of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who 
were redeemed from the earth, that were not defiled with 
women." 

VII. That the word "everlasting," when applied to the 



218 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

punishment of the wicked, refers only to a limited space 
of time, excepting in the case of those who fall from their 
Church ; but for such " there is no forgiveness, neither in 
this world, nor in that which is to come." 

They quote Matt. xii. 32, to prove this doctrine. 

This denomination maintain, that it is unlawful to swear, 
game, or use compliments to each other ; and that water- 
baptism and the Lord's Supper are abolished. 

They deny the imputation of Adam's sin to his poster- 
ity, and the doctrine of election, and reprobation. 

The discipline of this denomination is founded on the 
supposed perfection of their leaders. The mother, it is 
said, obeys God through Christ. European elders obey 
her. American laborers, and the common people obey 
them, while confession is made of every secret in nature, 
from the oldest to the youngest. The people are made to 
believe that they are seen through and through in the gos- 
pel glass of perfection, by their teachers, who behold the 
state of the dead, and innumerable worlds of spirits good 
and bad. 

From the shaking of their bodies in religious exercises, 
they were called Shakers, and some gave them the name 
of Shaking Quakers. This name, though used in deri- 
sion, they acknowledge to be proper, because they are both 
the subjects and instruments of the work of God in this 
latter day. 

" Thus the Lord promised, that he would shake the 
earth with terror :" Lowth's translation of Isaiah ii. 19, 
21. " That, in that day, there should be a great shaking 
in the land of Israel :" Ezek. xxxviii. 19, 20. " That he 
would shake the heavens and the earth:" Isaiah xiii. 13 ; 
Joel iii. 16 ; Hag. ii. 6, 7, 21. " That he would shake 
all nations, and that the desire of all nations should come." 
And according to the apostle : " That yet once more, he 
would shake not the earth only, but also heaven:" Heb. 
xii. 26. Signifying the removing of things that are 
shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which 
cannot be shaken may remain. All which particularly 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 219 

alluded to the latter day, and now in reality began to be 
fulfilled ; of which the name itself was a striking evidence, 
and much more the nature and operations of the work. 

This work went on under Wardley, till the year 1770, 
when the present Testimony of Salutation and Eternal 
Life was fully opened according to the special gift and 
revelation of God through Anne Lee. She was born 
about the year 1736 ; her father, John Lee, lived in Toad 
Lane, Manchester, and was a blacksmith ; with him she 
lived till she embarked for America. She herself was a 
cutter of hatter's fur, and had five brothers and two sis 
ters. She was married to Abraham Standley, a black- 
smith, and had four children, who died in their infancy. 

In 1758, this singular woman joined the society under 
Wardley, and became a distinguished leader amongst 
them. 

When therefore Anne, who, by her perfect obedience, 
had attained to all that was made manifest in the leading 
characters of the society, still, however, found in herself 
the seed or remains of human depravity and a lack of the 
divine nature, which is eternal life abiding in the soul, she 
did not rest satisfied in that state, but labored in contin- 
ual watchings and fastings, and in tears and incessant 
cries to God, day and night, for deliverance. And under 
the most severe tribulation, and violent temptations, as 
great as she was able to resist and endure, such was, fre- 
quently, her extreme agony of soul, that she would clinch 
her hands together, till the blood would flow through the 
pores of her skin ! 

By such deep mortification and suifering, her flesh 
wasted away, and she became like a skeleton, wholly in- 
capable of helping herself, and was fed and nourished like 
an infant, although naturally free from bodily infirmities, 
and a person of strong and sound constitution, and invin- 
cible fortitude of mind. 

And from the light and power of God, which attended 
her ministry, and the certain power of salvation transmit- 
ted to those who received her testimony, she was re- 



220 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIOJTS. 

ceived and acknowledged as the first Mother^ or spiritual 
parent in the line of the female, and the second heir in 
the covenant of life, according to the present display of 
the gospel. Hence among believers, she hath been dis- 
tinguished by no other name or title than that of Mother, 
from that period to the present day. To such as addressed 
her with the customary titles used by the w^orld, she would 
reply, — *I am Anne the Word f signifying that in her 
dwelt the Word:' 

In 1774, Anne Lee, with some of her followers, having 
been thought mad, and sorely persecuted, settled their 
temporal affairs in England, and set sail from Liverpool 
for New York. James Wardley and his wife, remaining 
behind, were removed into an almshouse, and there died. 

The others, we are told, ''being without lead or protec- 
tion, lost their power, and fell into the common course and 
practice of the world!" Anne Lee and their brethren 
reached New York, after working a kind of miracle, for 
the ship sprang a leak on the voyage, and it is more than 
hinted that had it not been for their exertions at the pump, 
the vessel would have gone down to the bottom of the 
ocean. They fixed their residence at Niskyuna, now 
-Watervliet, near the city of Albany. In this retired spot, 
they greatly multiplied, but Anne was not without bitter 
reproaches and manifold persecutions. She and the elders 
would delight in missionary journeys — being out for two 
or three years, and returning with wonderful accounts of 
their success. 

The decease of Elder William served as a particular 
means of preparing the minds of believers for a still 
heavier trial, in being deprived of the visible presence and 
protection of Anne — -the thought of which seemed almost 
insupportable to many. But having finished the work 
which was given her to do, she was taken out of their 
sight in the ordinary way of all living, at Watervliet, en 
the 8th day of the ninth month, 1784. 

Thus in the early dawn of the American Kevolution, 
when the rights of conscience began to be established, 



HISTORY OE ALL RELIGIONB. 221 

the morning star of Christ's second coming, disappeared 
from the view of the world, to be succeeded by the in- 
creasing brightness of the Sun of righteousness and all 
the promised glory of the latter day. 

And thus the full revelation of Christ, in its first de- 
gree, was completed ; which was according to that re- 
markable prophecy of Christopher Love, who was be- 
headed under Cromwell — ''Out of thee, England! shall 
a hHglit star arise, whose light and voice shall make the 
heavens to quake, and knock under with submission to the 
blessed Jesus." 

The most remarkable tenet of the Shakers is the abo- 
lition of marriage and indeed the total separation of the 
sexes. The essence of their argument is, that the Resur- 
rection spoken of in the New Testament means nothing 
more than conversion ; our Saviour declares that in the 
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage, therefore on conversion, or the resurrection of the 
individual, marriage ceases. To speak more plainly, the 
single must continue single and the married must separ- 
ate. Every passage in the Gospel and in the epistles is 
interpreted according to this hypothesis. 

Whatever degree of indulgence, say they, was ex- 
tended to some among the gentile nations, who professed 
faith in Christ, because they were not able to bear the 
whole truth ; yet the truth did not conceal the pointed 
distinction which Christ made between his own true fol- 
lowers, and the children of this world. 

"But I would have you without carefulness," saith the 
apostle ; " He that is unmarried careth for the things that 
belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord : ( his 
noblest and principal affections are there.) But he that is 
married careth for the things that are of the world, how 
he may please his wife." The wife is put in the place cf 
the Lord, as the fii'st object of his affections. 

The unmarried woman careth for the things of the 
Lord, (upon whom she places her affections,) that she may 
be holy both in body and spirit ; but she that is married 



222 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

careth for the things of the world, how she may please her 
husband, instead of the Lord. 

The same pointed distinction is made by Christ; not 
only when he says of his disciples, " They are not of the 
world, even as I am not of the world," but when in answer- 
ing the Sadducees, who denied and knew not that he was 
the Resurrection, he says, " The children of this world 
marry, and are given in marriage ; but they which shall 
be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resur- 
rection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in 
marriage." Neither can they die any more (spiritually), 
for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children 
of God, being the children of the resurrection. 

An idea of the notions of the Shakers in regard to their 
founder may be formed from the following passages : In 
the fulness of time, according to the unchangeable purpose 
of God, that same Spirit and word of power, which created 
man at the beginning — which spake by the prophets— 
which dwelt in the man Jesus — which was given to the 
apostles and true witnesses, as the Holy Spirit and Word 
of promise, which groaned in them waiting for the day of 
redemption — and which was spoken of in the language of 
prophecy as a woman travailing with child, and pained to 
be delivered, was revealed in a woman. 

And that woman, in whom was manifested the Spirit 
and Word of power, who was anointed and chosen of God, 
to reveal the mystery of iniquity, to stand as the first in 
order, to accomplish the purpose of God, in the restoration 
of that which was lost by the transgression of the first wo- 
man, and to finish the work of man's final redemption, 
was Anne Lee. 

As the chosen vessel, appointed by divine Wisdom, 
she, by her faithful obedience to that same anointing, 
became the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the second heir 
with Jesus, her Lord and Head, in the covenant and prom- 
ise of eternal life. And by her sufferings and travail for 
a lost world, and her union and subjection to Christ Jesus, 
her Lord and Head, she became the first-born of many 



HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIOXS. 223 

sisters, and the true Mother of all living in the new crea- 
tion. 

Thus the perfection of the translation of God in this 
latter day, excels particularly, in that which respects the 
most glorious part in the creation of man, namely, the 
woman. And herein is the most condescending goodness 
and mercy of God displayed, not only in redeeming that 
most amiable part of creation from the curse, and all the 
sorrows of the fall, but also in condescending to the lowest 
estate of the loss of mankind. 

The four leading peculiarities of the Shakers are : first, 
community of property ; secondly, the celibacy of the en- 
tire body, in both sexes ; thirdly, the non-existence of any 
priesthood ; and, fourthly, the use of the dance in their 
religious worship. All these they defend on Scriptural 
authority, and quote very largely from the writings of the 
Old and New Testaments in confirmation of their views. 
The following are their rules for the admission of mem- 
bers : 

1. All persons who unite with the society must do it 
voluntarily and of their own free will. 

2. No one is permitted to do so without a full and 
clear understanding of all its obligations. 

3. No considerations of property are ever made use 
of to induce persons to join or to leave the society ; be- 
cause it is a principle of the sect, that no act of devotion 
or service that does not flow from the free and voluntary 
emotions of the heart, can be acceptable to God as an act 
of true religion. 

4. No believing husband or wife is allowed, by the 
principles of this society, to separate from an unbelieving 
partner, except by mutual agreement, unless the conduct 
of the unbeliever be such as to warrant a separation by 
the laws of God and man. Nor can any husband or wife, 
who has otherwise abandoned his or her partner, be re- 
ceived into communion with the society. 

5. Any person becoming a member must rectify all 
his wrongs, and, as fast and as far as it is in his power. 



224 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

discliarge all just and legal claims, whether of creditors 
or filial heirs. Nor can any person, not conforming to 
this rule, long remain in union with the society. But the 
society is not responsihle for the debts of any individual, 
except by agreement ; because such responsibility would 
involve a principle ruinous to the institution. 

6. No difference is to be made in the distribution of 
parental estate among the heirs, whether they belong to 
the society or not ; but an equal partition must be made, 
as far as may be practicable and consistent with reason 
and justice. 

7. If an unbelieving wife separate from a believing 
husband by agreement, the husband must give her a just 
and reasonable share of the property ; and if they have 
children who have arrived at years of understanding suffi- 
cient to judge for themselves, and who choose to go with 
their mother, they are not to be disinherited on that ac- 
count. Though the character of this institution has been 
much censured on this ground, yet we boldly assert that 
the rule above stated has never, to our knowledge, been 
violated by this society. 

8. Industry, temperance, and frugality, are prominent 
features of this institution. No member who is able to 
labor, can be permitted to live idly upon the labors of 
others. All are required to be employed in some manual 
occupation, according to their several abilities, when not 
engaged in other necessary duties. 

As all persons enter this society voluntarily, so they 
may voluntarily withdraw ; but, while they remain mem- 
bers, they are required to obey the regulations of the so- 
ciety. 

The leading authority of the society is vested in a min- 
istry, generally consisting of four persons, including both 
sexes. These, together with the elders and trustees, con- 
stitute the general government of the society in all its 
branches. 

No creed is framed to restrain the progress of impro re- 
ment. It is the faith of the society that the operations of 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 225 

Divine liglit are unlimited. All are at liberty to improve 
their talents and exercise their gifts, the younger being 
subject to the elder. 

In the beginning of the year 1780 the society consisted 
of but about ten or twelve persons, all of whom came from 
England. From this time there was a gradual and ex- 
tensive increase in their numbers until the year 1787, 
when they began to collect at New-Lebanon. Here the 
Church was established, as a common centre of union for 
all who belonged to the society in various parts of the 
country. This still remains as the mother church, being 
the first that was established ; all the societies in various 
parts of the country are considered branches of this ; and 
there are now twenty separate communities, numbering 
about 4000 members. 

In Ohio there are two societies, one at Union Village, 
in the county of Warren, 30 miles northeast from Cincin- 
nati, which contains nearly 600 members ; and one at 
Beaver Creek, in the county of Montgomery, six miles 
southeast from Dayton, which contains 100 members. In 
Kentucky there are also two societies, one at Pleasant 
Hill, in Mercer county, 21 miles southwest of Lexington, 
containing nearly 500 members ; the other at South 
Union, Jasper Springs, in Logan county, 15 miles north- 
east from Russellville, which contains nearly 400 mem- 
bers. In Indiana there is one society, at West Union, 
Knox county, 16 miles above Vincennes, which contains 
more than 200 members. 

"The Shakers," says one of their visitors, "are, in 
their religious notions, a compound of almost all the other 
sects. They are a kind of religious eclectics, with this 
commendable trait, that they are enemies to every sort of 
coercion in matters of religion. They have chosen what 
appeared to them to be good out of every denomiiiation. 
The Shakers unite with the Quakers in an entire submis- 
sion to the Spirit, and in the rejection of baptism and the 
Lord's Supper — with the Calvinists and Methodists in 
laying great stress on conversion — with the Arminians 
15 



226 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGI )NS. 

in rejecting election and reprobation, as well as the impu- 
tation of Adam's guilt to his posterity — with the Unita- 
rians in exploding a Trinity of three persons in one God, 
together with the satisfaction of Christ — with the Roman 
Catholics in contending for the continuation of miracles 
in the church — with the Sandemanians in practicing a sort 
of community of goods, and having no person regularly 
educated for the ministry — with the followers of Joanna 
Southcott, in believing that a woman is the instrument to 
bring on the glory of the latter day — with the Moravians 
and Methodists in encouraging missj mary undertakings - 
with the Swedenborgians in denying the resurrection of 
the body, and asserting that the day of judgment is past- — 
with the Jumpers in dancing and shouting during divine 
worship ; and lastly, with the Universalists in renouncing 
the eternity of hell torments. To all this, they have 
added a tenet hitherto unthought of by any body of Chris- 
tians. The Catholics indeed led the way in enjoining the 
celibacy of the clergy, and in the institution of monachism. 
It was left to the Shakers to enjoin celibacy as one of 
their religious exercises." 

As far as the history of the Shakers can establish the 
fact, it has certainly shown that, where property is held in 
community, and not individually, the disposition to bestow 
it in works of charity and benevolence to others is greatly 
increased. And that the property itself is better managed 
for accumulation and preservation, no one can doubt who 
has watched the progressive advancement which this so- 
ciety has made in the augmentation, as well as improve- 
ment, of its possessions, and in the neatness, order, and 
perfection by which everything they do or make is char- 
acterized : this is so much the case, that over all the Uni- 
ted States, the seeds, plants, fruits, grain, cattle, and man- 
ufactures furnished by any settlement of Shakers, bear a 
premium in the market above the ordinary price of similar 
articles from other establishments. There being no idle- 
ness among them, all are productive. There being no in- 
temperance among them, none are destructivp. There 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 227 

being no misers among them, nothing is hoarded, or made 
to perish for want of use ; so that while production and im- 
provement are at their maximum, and waste and destruc- 
tion at their minimum, the society must go on increasing 
the extent and value of its temporal possessions, and thus 
increase its means of doing good, first within, and then 
beyond its own circle. 

The most remarkable religious ceremony among the 
Shakers is that of dancing. The following account, from 
Buckingham's Travels in America, appears to be a wholly 
unprejudiced one : 

" The males were first arranged in pairs, following each 
other like troops in a line of march \ and when their num- 
ber was completed, the females followed after, two and 
two, in the same manner. In this way they formed a 
complete circle round the open space of the room. In the 
centre of the whole was a small band of about half a 
dozen males and half a dozen females, who were there 
stationed to sing the tunes and mark the time ; and these 
began to sing with a loud voice and in quick time, like 
the allegro of a sonata, or the vivace of a canzonet, the 
following verse : 

' Perpetual blessings to demand, 
Perpetual praise on every hand ; 
Then leap for joy, with dance and song, 
To praise the Lord forever.' 

" The motion of the double line of worshippers, as they 
filed ofi" before us, was something between a march and a 
dance. Their bodies were inclined forward like those of 
persons in the act of running ; they kept the most perfect 
time with their feet, and beat the air with their hands to 
the same measure. Some of the more robust and enthu- 
siastic literally leaped' so high as to shake the room by 
the weight with which they fell to their feet on the floor ; 
and others, though taking the matter more moderately, 
bore evident signs of the efi"ects of the^xercise and heat 
united on their persons. The first dance lasted about five 



228 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS 

minutes, and was performed to the air of ' Scots wha lia'e 
wi* Wallace bled,' sung with great rapidity. The second 
dance was of still quicker measure, and to the much less 
respectable old English tune of * Nancy Dawson,' and to 
this lively and merry tune the whole body, now formed 
into three abreast instead of two, literally scampered round 
the room in a quick gallopade, every individual of both 
the choir and the dancers singing with all their might 
these words : 

* Press on, press on, ye chosen band, 
The angels go before ye ; 
We're marching through Immanuers land, 
Where saints shall sing in glory.' 

" This exercise was continued for at least double the 
time of the former, and by it the worshipers were wrought 
up to such a pitch of fervor, that they were evidently on 
the point of some violent outbreak or paroxysm. Accord- 
ingly, the whole assembly soon got into the ' most admired 
disorder,' each dancing to his own tune and his own mea- 
sure, and the females became perfectly ungovernable. 
About half a dozen of these whirled themselves round in 
what opera dancers call a pirouette, performing at least 
fifty revolutions each, with their- arms extended horizon- 
tally, their clothes being blown out like an air-balloon all 
round their persons, their heads sometimes falling on one 
side, and sometimes hanging forward on the bosom, till 
they would at length faint away in hysterical convulsions, 
and be caught in the arms of the surrounding dancers. 

" This, too, like the singing and dancing which pre- 
ceded it, was accompanied by clapping of hands to mark 
the time, while the same verse was constantly repeated, 
and at every repetition with increased rapidity. Altogether 
the scene was one of the most extraordinary I had ever 
witnessed, and, except among the howling dervishes of 
Bagdad, and the whirling dervishes of Damascus, I re 
member nothing in the remotest degree resembling it." 

The Shakers vindicate this singular ceremony by quota- 
tions from the BilSe. " The exercise of dancing, in the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 229 

worship of God," say they, *' was brought to light not as 
an exercise of human invention, instituted by human au- 
thority, but as a manifestation of the will of God, through 
the special operations of his Divine power. No reader of 
the Scriptures can doubt but that dancing was acceptable 
to God as an exercise of religious worship in times past, 
and will be in time to come, according to the prediction oi 
the prophet : 

" ' Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, 
virgin of Israel ! thou shalt again be adorned with thy 
tablets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that 
make merry. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, 
both young men and old together. Turn again, virgin 
of Israel ! turn again to these thy cities.'* 

" God requires the faithful improvement of every created 
talent. ' clap your hands, all ye people ; shout unto 
God with the voice of triumph. Sing unto the Lord a 
new song ; sing his praise in the congregation of the saints 
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King ; let them 
praise his name in the dance.' 

" These expressions of the inspired Psalmist are worthy 
of serious consideration. Do they not evidently imply 
that the Divine Spirit which dictated them requires the 
devotion of all our faculties in the service of God ? How, 
then, can any people professing religion expect to find ac- 
ceptance with God by the service of the tongue only ? 

" Since we are blessed with hands and feet, those active 
and useful members of the body on which we mostly de- 
pend in our own service, shall we not acknowledge our 
obligations to God who gave them by exercising them in 
our devotions to him ? There is too powerful a connec- 
tion between the body and the mind, and too strong an 
influence of the mind upon the body, to admit of much ac- 
tivity of mind in the service of God without the co-opera- 
ting exercises of the body. But where the heart is sin- 



* Jeremiah, c. 31, v. 4, 13, 21. 



230 HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

cerely and fervently engaged in the service of God, it has 
a tendency to produce an active influence on the body." 

" From every inquiry I could make," says Mr. Bucking- 
ham, '' of those longest resident in the neighborhood of 
the Shakers, I could learn no authenticated case of evil 
practices among them. On the contrary, every one ap- 
peared ready to bear testimony to their honesty, punctu- 
ality, industry, sobriety, and chastity." 

HOPKINSIANS. 

This sect is called after the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D. D., 
pastor of a Church at Newport ; who in his sermons and 
tracts, has made several additions to the sentiments first 
advanced by the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, President 
of New Jersey College.* 

The following is a summary of the distinguishing tenets 
of this denomination, together with a few of the reasons 
which they employ to support their sentiments : 

I. That all true virtue, or real holiness, consists in dis- 
interested benevolence. 

The object of benevolence is universal Being, including 
God, and all intelligent creatures. It wishes and seeks 
the good of every individual, so far as is consistent with 
the greatest good of the whole, which is comprised in the 
glory of God, and the perfection and happiness of his 
kingdom. 

The law of God is the standard of all moral rectitude, 
or holiness. This is reduced into love to God, and our 
neighbor as ourselves ; and universal good-will compre- 
hends all the love to God, our neighbor, and ourselves, re- 
quired in the divine law; and therefore must be tho 
whole of holy obedience. Let any serious person think 

* This denomination supposes, that this eminent divine not only illus- 
trated and confirmed the main doctrines of Calvinism, but brought the 
whole system to a greater degree of consistency and perfection, than 
any who had gone before him. They profess only to pursue the same 
design of still further perfecting the same system. 



HISTORY OF ALL SELIGIOXS. 'IZI 

what are the particular branches of true piety ; when he 
has viewed each one by itself, he will find, that disinter- 
ested, friendly affection is its distinguishing characteristic. 
For instance, all the holiness in pious fear, which distin- 
guishes it from the fear of the wicked, consists in love. 
Again, holy gratitude is nothing hut good will to God and 
our neighbour, in which we ourselves are included, and 
correspondent affection excited by a view of the good will ^ 
and kindness of God. 

Universal good will also implies the whole of the duty 
we owe to our neighbor. For justice, truth, and faithful- 
ness, are comprised in universal benevolence. So are 
temperance and chastity. For an undue indulgence of 
our appetites and passions is contrary to benevolence, as 
tending to hurt ourselves or others ; and so opposite to 
the general good, and the divine command, in which all 
the crime of such indulgence consists. In short, all virtue 
is nothing but benevolence acted out in its proper nature 
and perfection, or love to God and our neighbor made per- 
fect in all its genuine exercises and expressions. 

II. That all sin consists in selfishness. 

By this is meant, an interested, selfish affection, by 
which a person sets himself up as supreme, and the only 
object of regard ; and nothing is good or lovely, in his 
view, unless suited to promote his own private interest 
This self-love is in its whole nature and every degree of 
it, enmity against God. It is not subject to the law 
of God ; and is the only affection that can oppose it. It 
is the foundation of all spiritual blindness ; and therefore 
the source of all the open idolatry in the heathen world, 
and false religion under the light of the gospel. All this 
is agreeable to that self-love which opposes God's true 
character. Under the influence of this principle, men de- 
part from truth, it being itself the greatest practical lie 
in nature, as it sets up that which is comparatively noth- 
ing, above Universal Existence. Self-love is the source 
of all profaneness and impiety in the world ; and of all pride 
and ambition among men, which is nothing but selfishness 



232 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

acted out in this particular way. This is the foundation 
of all covetousness and sensuality ; ar$ it blinds people's eyes, 
contracts their hearts, and sinks them down, so that they 
look upon earthly enjoyments as the greatest good. This 
is the source of all falsehood, injustice, and oppression, as 
it excites mankind by undue methods to invade the pro- 
perty of others. Self-love produces all the violent pas- 
sions, envy, wrath, clamor, and evil speaking, and every- 
thing contrary to the divine law, is briefly comprehended 
in this fruitful source of all iniquity, self-love. 

III. That there are no promises of regenerating grace 
made to the doings of the unregenerate. 

For as far as men act from self-love, they act from a bad 
end. For those who have no true love to God, really do 
no duty, when they attend on the externals of religion. 
And as the unregenerate act from a selfish principle, they 
do nothing which is commanded. Their impenitent doings 
are wh-olly opposed to repentance and conversion, there- 
fore not implied in the command, To repent, &c. So far 
from this, they are altogether disobedience to the com- 
mand. Hence it appears, that there are no promises of 
salvation to the doings of the unregenerate. 

ly. That the impotency of sinners, with respect to be- 
lieving in Christ, is not natural but moral. 

For it is a plain dictate of common sense, that natural 
impossibility excludes all blame. But an unwilling mind 
is universally considered as a crime, and not as an excuse, 
and is the very thing wherein our wickedness consists. 
That the impotence of the sinner is owing to a disafiec- 
tion of heart, is evident from the promises of the gospel. 
When any object of good is proposed and promised to us 
upon asking, it clearly evinces that there can be no impo- 
tency in us with respect to obtaining it, beside the disap- 
probation of the will : and that inability, which consists in 
disinclination, never renders anything properly the subject 
of precept or command. 

V. That in order to faith in Christ, a sinner must ap- 
prove in his heart of the divine conduct, even though God 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIOXS. 233 

eliould cast him off forever ; which, however, neither im- 
plies love to misery, nor hatred of happiness.* 

For if the law is good, death is due to those who have 
broken it. The Judge of all the earth cannot but do right. 
It would bring everlasting reproach upon his government 
to spare us, considered merely as in ourselves. When this 
is felt in our hearts, and not till then, we shall be pre- 
pared to look to the free grace of God through the redemp- 
tion which is in Christ, and to exercise faith in his blood, 
" who is set forth to be a propitiation to declare God's 
righteousness, that he might be just, and yet be the justi- 
fier of him who believeth in Jesus." 

VI. That the infinitely wise and holy God has exerted 
his omnipotent power in such a manner, as he purposed 
should be followed with the existence and entrance of 
moral evil in the system. 

For it must be admitted on all hands, that God has a 
perfect knowledge, foresight, and view of all possible ex- 
istences and events. If that system and sense of opera- 
tion, in which moral evil should never have existence, was 
actually preferred in the divine mind, certainly the Deity 
is infinitely disappointed in the issue of his own operations. 
Nothing can be more dishonorable to God, than to imagine 
that the system, which is actually formed by the Divine 



* As a particle of water is small in comparison with a generous stream, 
BO the man of humility feels small before the great family of his fellow- 
creatures. He values his soul, but when he compares it to the great 
soul of mankind, he almost forgets and loses sight of it : for the gov- 
erning principle of his heart is to estimate things according to their 
worth. When, therefore, he indulges a humble comparison with his 
Maker, he feels lost in the infinite fullness and brightness of divine love, 
as a ray of light is lost in the sun, and a particle of water in the ocean. 
It inspires him with the most grateful feelings of heart, that he has op- 
pertunity to be in the 'aand of God, as clay in the hand of the potter : 
and as he considers himself in this humble light, he submits the nature 
and size of his future vessel entirely to God. As his pride is lost in the 
dust, he looks up with pleasure towards the throne of God, and rejaicea 
with all his heart in the rectitude of the divine administration. 



23 i HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

hand, and wMch was made for his pleasure and glory, is 
yet not the fruit of wise contrivance and design. 

VII. That the introduction of sin is, upon the whole, 
for the general good. 

For the wisdom and power of the Deity are displayed in 
carrying on designs of the greatest good : and the exist- 
ence of moral evil has undoubtedly occasioned a more full, 
perfect, and glorious discovery of the infinite perfections 
of the divine nature, that could otherwise have been made 
to the view of creatures. If the extensive manifestations 
of the pure and holy nature of God, and his infinite aver- 
sion to sin, and all his inherent perfections in their genu- 
ine fruits and efiects, is either itself the greatest good, or 
necessarily contains it ; it must necessarily follow, that the 
introduction of sin is for the greatest good. 

YIII. That repentance is before faith in Christ. 

By this is not intended, that repentance is before a 
speculative belief of the being and perfections of God, and 
of the person and character of Christ ; but only, that true 
repentance is previous to a saving faith in Christ, in which 
the believer is united to Christ, and entitled to the benefits 
of his mediation and atonement. That repentance is be- 
fore faith in this sense, appears from several considerations : 

1st. As repentance and faith respect difierent objects, 
so they are distinct exercises of the heart, and therefore 
one not only may, but must be prior to the other. 

2d. There may be genuine repentance of sin without 
faith in Christ ; but there cannot be true faith in Christ 
without repentance of sin : and since repentance is neces- 
sary in order to faith in Christ, it must necessarily be 
prior to faith in Christ. 

3d. John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, taught, 
that repentance is before faith. John cried, " Repent, for 
the kingdom of heaven is at hand;" intending, that true 
repentance was necessary in order to embrace the gospel 
of the kingdom. Christ commanded, " Repent ye, and 
believe the gospel." And Paul preached "repentance to- 
ward Godj and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." 



HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 235 

IX. That though men became sinners by Adam accord- 
ing to a divine constitution, yet they have, and are ac- 
countable for no sins but personal. 

1st. Adam's act in eating the forbidden fruit was not 
the act of his posterity, therefore, they did not sin at the 
same time he did. 

2d. The sinfulness of that act could not be transferred 
to them afterwards ; because the sinfulness of an act can 
no more be transferred from one person to another, than 
an act itself. Therefore, 

3d. Adam's act in eating the forbidden fruit was not 
the cause, but only the occasion of his posterity's being 
sinners. God was pleased to make a constitution, that, 
if Adam remained holy through his state of trial, his pos- 
terity should, in consequence of it, be holy too ; but if he 
sinned, his posterity, in consequence of it, should be sin- 
ners too. Adam sinned, and now God brings posterity 
into the world sinners. By Adam's sin we are become 
sinners, not for it ; his sin being only the occasion, not 
the cause of our committing sins. 

X. That though believers are justified through Christ's 
righteousness, yet his righteousness is not transferred to 
them. 

1st. Personal righteousness can no more be transferred 
from one person to another than personal sin. 

2d. If Christ's personal righteousness were transferred 
to believers, they would be as perfectly holy as Christ, 
and so stand in no need of forgiveness. But, 

3d. Believers are not conscious of having Christ's per- 
sonal righteousness, but feel and bewail much in-dwelling 
sin and corruption. And, 

4th. The Scripture represents believers as receiving 
only the benefits of Christ's righteousness in justification, 
or their being pardoned and accepted for Christ's right- 
eousness' sake. And this is the proper Scripture notion 
of imputation. Jonathan's righteousness was imputed to 
Mephibosheth, when David showed kindness to him for his 
father Jonathan's sake. 



236 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

The Hopkinsians warmly advocate the doctrine of the 
divine decrees, the doctrine of particular election, the 
doctrine of total depravity, the doctrine of the special in- 
fluences of the Spirit of God in regeneration, the doctrine 
of justification by faith alone, the final perseverance of the 
saints, and the consistency between entire freedom and 
absolute dependence. And therefore claim it as their just 
due, since the world will make distinctions, to be called 
Hopkinsian Calvinists. 

COME-OUTERS. 

This is a term which has been applied to a considerable 
number of persons in various parts of the Northern States, 
principally in New England, who have recently come out 
of the various religious denominations with which they 
were connected ; — hence the name. They have not them- 
selves assumed any distinctive name, not regarding them- 
selves as a sect, as they have not formed, and do not 
contemplate forming, any religious organization. They 
have no creed, believing that every one should be left 
free to hold such opinions on religious subjects as he 
pleases, without being held accountable for the same to 
any human authority. 

Hence, as might be expected, they hold a diversity of 
opinions on many points of belief upon which agreement 
is considered essential by the generality of professing 
Christians. Amongst other subjects upon which they dif- 
fer is that of the authority of the Scriptures of the Old 
and the New Testaments, some among them holding the 
prevailing belief of their divine inspiration, whilst others 
regard them as mere human compositions, and subject 
them to the same rules of criticism as they do any other 
book, attaching to them no authority any further than they 
find evidence of their truth. They believe the commonly- 
received opinion of the plenary inspiration of the writers 
of those books to be unfounded, not claimed by the writers 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 237 

tliemselves, and therefore unscriptural, as well as unrea- 
sonable. 

Whilst, then, thej believe the authors of the Gospels to 
have been fallible men, liable to err both in relation to 
matters of fact and opinion, they believe they find in their 
writings abundant evidence of their honesty. Therefore 
they consider their testimony satisfactory as regards the 
main facts there stated of the life of Jesus Christ, at least 
so far. that there can be no difficulty in deducing there- 
from the great principles of the religion which he taught. 
They all believe him to have been a divinely-inspired 
teacher, and his religion, therefore, to be a revelation of 
eternal truth. They regard him as the only authorized 
expositor of his own religion, and believe that to apply 
in practice its principles as promulgated by him, and as 
exemplified in his life, is all that is essential to constitute 
a Christian, according to his testimony, (Matt. vii. 24,) 
"Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth 
them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his 
house upon a rock," &c. Hence they believe, that to 
make it essential to Christianity to assent to all the opin- 
ions expressed by certain men, good men though they 
were, who wrote either before or after his time, involves a 
denial of the words of Christ. They believe that, accord- 
ing to his teachings, true religion consists in purity of 
heart, holiness of life, and not in opinions ; that Chris- 
tianity, as it existed in the mind of Christ, is a life rather 
than a belief. 

This class of persans agree in the opinion that he only 
is a Christian who has the spirit of Christ ; that all such 
as these are members of his church, and that it is com- 
posed of none others ; therefore that membership in the 
Christian church is not, and cannot, in the nature of things, 
be determined by any human authority. Hence they deem 
all attempts to render the church identical with any out- 
ward organizations as utterly futile, not warranted by 
Christ himself, and incompatible with its spiritual charac- 
ter. Having no organized society, they have no stations 



238 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

of autnority or superiority, wMcli they believe to be incon- 
sistent with the Christian idea, ( Matt, xxiii. 8,) " But be 
not ye called Rabbi : for one is your Master, even Christ : 
and all ye are brethren." (Matt. xx. 25, 26,) "Ye 
know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion 
over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon 
them. But it shall not be so among you." 

As might be inferred from the foregoing, they discard 
all outward ordinances as having no place in a spiritual 
religion, the design of which is to purify the heart, and 
the extent of whose influence is to be estimated by its 
legitimate effects in producing a life of practical righteous- 
ness, and not by any mere arbitrary sign, which can- 
not be regarded as a certain indication of the degree of 
spiritual life, and must consequently be inefficient and un- 
necessary. 

Their views of worship correspond, as they believe, 
with the spiritual nature of the religion they profess. They 
believe that true Christian worship is independent of 
time and place ; that it has no connection with forms, and 
ceremonies, and external arrangements, any further than 
these are the exponents of a divine life ; that it spontane- 
ously arises from the pure in heart at all times and in all 
places : in short, they regard the terms Christian worship 
and Christian obedience as synonymous, believing that he 
gives the highest and only conclusive evidence of worship- 
ing the Creator, who exhibits in his life the most perfect 
obedience to his will. These views they consider in per- 
fect harmony with the teachings of Jesus, particularly in 
his memorable conversation with the woman of Samaria. 

They also agree in the belief that the religion of Christ 
asserts the equality of all men before God ; that it con- 
fers upon no man, or class of men, a monopoly of Heav- 
en's favours ; neither does it give to a portion of his chil- 
dren any means of knowing his will not common to the 
race. They believe the laws of the soul are so plain, that 
they may be easily comprehended by all who sincerely 
seek to know them, without the intervention of any human 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 239 

teacher or expounder. Hence they regard no teaching as 
authoritative but that of the Spirit of God, and reject all 
priesthoods but the universal priesthood which Christian- 
ity establishes. They believe that every one whose soul 
is imbued with a knowledge of the truth, is qualified to be 
its minister, and it becomes his duty and his pleasure, by 
his every word and action, to preach it to the world. It 
follows, then, that, as Christ prepares and appoints his own 
ministers, and as they receive their commissions only from 
him, they are accountable to him alone for their exercise, 
and not to any human authority whatsoever. They there- 
fore reject all human ordinations, appointments, or control, 
or any designation by man of an order of men to preach 
the gospel, as invasions of his rightful prerogative. 

Amongst the prevailing sins, against which they feel 
bound to bear testimony, are slavery and war ; and it is 
alleged as the main reason why many of them have dis- 
connected themselves from the professedly Christian de- 
nominations to which they belonged, that those bodies 
gave their sanction to those anti-Christian practices. 
They believe slave-holding to be sinful under all circum- 
stances, and that, therefore, it should be immediately 
abandoned. They believe not only that national wars 
are forbidden by Christianity, but that the taking of hu- 
man life for any purpose, by governments or individuals, 
is incompatible with its spirit. A large proportion of 
them, also, consider all resort to punishment, as a penalty 
for . crime, equally inconsistent with the law of love. 
Hence they deem it their duty to withhold their voluntary 
sanction or support from human governments, and all in- 
stitutions which claim the right to exercise powers which 
they thus regard as unlawful. 

In various places, these persons hold meetings on the 
first day of the week, which are conducted consistently 
with then- views of Christian freedom and equality. It is 
understood that the object of thus meeting together, is to 
promote their spiritual welfare. For this purpose, they 
encourage a free interchange of sentiment on religious 



240 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

subjects, without any restraint or formality. They have 
no prescribed exercises, but every one is left free to utter 
his thoughts as he may feel inclined ; and even those who 
differ from them in opinion are not only at liberty, but are 
invited, to give expression to their thoughts. They be- 
lieve this to be the only mode of holding religious meet- 
ings consistent with the genius of their religion, and for 
an example of like gatherings they refer to those of the 
primitive Christians. 

HUTCHINSONIANS. 

HuTCHiNSONiANS are the followers of John Hutchinson, 
born in Yorkshire, 1674, who in the early part of his 
life served the Duke of Somerset in the capacity of a stew- 
ard. The Hebrew Scriptures, he says, comprise a perfect 
system of natural philosophy, theology, and religion. In 
opposition to Dr. Woodward's Natural History of the 
Earth, Mr. Hutchinson, in 1724, published the first part 
of his curious book called Moses Principia. Its second 
part was presented to the public in 1727, which contains, 
as he apprehends, the principles of the Scripture philoso- 
phy, which are a plenum and the air. So high an opin- 
ion did he entertain of the Hebrew language, that he 
thought the Almighty must have employed it to commu- 
nicate every species of knowledge, and that accordingly 
every species of knowledge is to be found in the Old Tes- 
tament. Of his mode of philosophising, the following spe- 
cimen is brought forward to the reader's attention : '' The 
air (he supposes) exists in three conditions, fire, light, and 
spirit : the two latter are the finer and grosser parts of the 
air in motion ; from the earth to the sun, the air is finer 
and finer till it becomes pure light near the confines of the 
sun, and fire in the orb of the sun, or solar focus. From 
the earth towards the circumference of this system, in 
which he includes the fixed stars, the air becomes grosser 
and grosser till it becomes stagnant, in which condition 
it is at the utmost verge of this system, from whence (in 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 241 

his opinion) the expression of outer darkness, and black- 
ness of darkness, used in the New Testament, seems to be 
taken." 

NESTORIANS. 

This denomination, which arose in the fifth century, is 
so called from Nestorius, a patriarch of Constantinople, 
who was born in Germanica, a city of Syria, in the latter 
part of the fourth century. He was educated and bap- 
tized at Antioch, and soon after his baptism, withdrew to 
a monastery in the vicinity of that city. His great repu- 
tation for eloquence, and the regularity of his life, induced 
the emperor Theodosius to select him for the see of Con- 
stantinople ; and he was consecrated bishop of that Church 
A. D. 429. He became a violent persecutor of heretics ; 
but, because he favored the doctrine of his friend Anas- 
fcasius, that *' the virgin Mary cannot with propriety be 
called the mother of God," he was anathematized by Cy- 
ril, bishop of Alexandria, who, in his turn, was anathema- 
tized by Nestorius. In the council of Ephesus, A. D. 431, 
(the third General Council of the Church,) at which Cyril 
presided, and at which Nestorius was not present, he was 
judged and condemned without being heard, and deprived 
of his see. He then retired to his monastery in Antioch, 
and was afterwards banished to Petra, in Arabia, and 
thence to Oasis, in Egypt, where he died about A. D. 
435 or 439. 

The decision of the council of Ephesus caused many 
difficulties in the Church; and the friends of Nestorius 
carried his doctrines through all the Oriental provinces, 
and established numerous congregations, professing an in- 
vincible opposition to the decrees of the Ephesian council. 
Nestorianism spread rapidly over the East, and was em- 
braced by a large number of the oriental bishops. Barsu- 
mus, bishop of Nisibis, labored with great zeal and activ- 
ity to procure for the Nestorians a solid and permanent 
footing in Persia ; and his success was so remarkable that 
16 



242 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

his fame extended throughout the East. He established 
a school at Nisibis, which became very famous, and from 
which issued those Nestorian doctors who, in that and the 
following centuries, spread abroad their tenets through 
Egypt, Syria, Arabia, India, Tartary, and China. 

The Nestorian Church is Episcopal in its government, 
like all the Oriental churches. Its doctrines, also, are, in 
general, the same with those of those churches, and they 
receive and repeat, in their public worship, the Nicene 
creed. Their distinguishing doctrines appear to be, their 
believing that Mary was not the mother of Jesus Christ, 
as God, but only as man, and that there are, consequently, 
two persons, as well as two natures, in the Son of God. 
This notion was looked upon in the earlier ages of the 
Church as a most momentous error ; but it has in latter 
times been considered more as an error of words than of 
doctrine ; and that the error of Nestorius was in the words 
he employed to express his meaning, rather than in , the 
doctrine itself. While the Nestorians believe that Christ 
had two natures and two persons, they say " that these 
natures and persons are so closely united that they have 
but one aspect." Now the word barsopa, by which they 
express this aspect, is precisely of the same signification 
with the Greek word prosopon, which signifies a person; and 
hence it is evident that they attached to the word aspect 
the same idea that we attach to the word person, and that 
they understood by the word person, precisely what we 
understand by the term nature. 

The Nestorians, of all the Christian Churches of the 
East, have been the most careful and successful in avoid- 
ing a multitude of superstitious opinions and practices, 
which have infected the Romish and many of the Eastern 
churches. 

Dr. Asahel Grant, an American, has published an in^ 
teresting work, in which he adduces strong evidence to 
prove that the Nestorians and the "Lost Tribes" are one 
people. The London Times of a recent date contains the 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 243 

following letter, relating to the massacre of a large bodj 
of the Nestorians, and the success of the Circassians : 

^' The Kurds, who for a long period have entertained a 
ferocious hatred to this Christian republic, situated in the 
centre of the Mahometan states, committed, on their inva- 
sion, all kinds of atrocities. The villages were pillaged, 
women and young girls were violated, and, in fact, the 
massacres committed were worthy of a plundering tribe 
having in their power a detested enemy. In the districts 
adjoining Dzumalesk might be seen during several days 
the Christian villages on fire. Some of those villages 
were burned by the inhabitants themselves, who fled be- 
fore the Pasha's hordes, destroying their property to pre- 
vent its falling into the hands of the Kurds. The result 
of this abominable outrage was, that the Nestorians, after 
much bloodshed, surrendered their territory to the Pasha 
of Mousul. This is a deplorable event, as the Nestorians 
of Dzumalesk formed a small state well worthy of liberty. 
They were brave, industrious, and peaceable. Dr. Grant, 
who has for a long time resided at Urmia, has left for 
Mousul, where he was about to take some steps in favor 
of those persecuted Christians." 

PELAGIANS. 

This denomination arose in the fifth century, and was so 
called from Pelagius, a monk who looked upon the doc- 
trines which were commonly received, concerning the ori- 
ginal corruption of human nature, and the necessity of 
divine grace to enlighten the understanding and purify 
the heart, as prejudicial to the progress of holiness and 
virtue, and tending to establish mankind in a presumptu- 
ous and fatal security. He maintained the following doc- 
trines : 

I. That the sins of our first parents were imputed to 
them only, and not to their posterity ; and that we derive 
no corruption from their fall ; but are born as pure and 



244 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

unspotted, as Adam came out of the forming hand of hia 
Creator. 

II. That mankind, therefore, are capable of repentance 
and amendment, and of arriving at the highest degrees of 
piety and virtue, by the use of their natural faculties and 
powers. That, indeed, external grace is necessary to ex- 
cite their endeavours, but that they have no need of the 
internal succors of the Divine Spirit. 

III. That Adam was, by nature, mortal ; and, whether 
he had sinned or not, would certainly have died. 

ly. That the grace of God is given in proportion to 
our merits. 

y. That mankind may arrive at a state of perfection in 
this life. 

yi. That the law qualified men for the kingdom of 
heaven, and was founded upon equal promises with the 
gospel. 



ORIGENISTS. 

OEiaEN was a presbyter of Alexandria, who lived in 
the third century. He was a man of vast and uncom- 
mon abilities, who interpreted the divine truths of religion 
according to the tenor of the Platonic philosophy. He 
alleged, that the source of many evils lies in adhering to 
the literal and external part of Scripture ; and that the 
true meaning of the sacred vrriters was to be sought in a 
mysterious and hidden sense, arising from the nature of 
things themselves. 

The principal tenets ascribed to Origen, together with 
a few of the reasons made use of in their defence, are 
comprehended in the following summary : 

I. That there is a pre-existent state of human souls. 

For the nature of the soul is such as makes her capa- 
ble of existing eternally, backward, as well as forward. 
For her spiritual essence, as such, makes it impossible 
that she should, either through age or violence, be dis- 
solved : so that nothing is wanting to her existence, but 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 245 

His good pleasure, from whom all things proceed. And 
if, according to the Platonic scheme, we assign the pro- 
duction of all things to the exuberant fulness of life in 
the Deity, which, through the blessed necessity of his 
communicative nature, empties itself into all possibilities 
of being, as into so many capable receptacles, we must 
suppose her existence, in a sense necessary and in a 
degree, co-eternal with God. 

II. That souls were condemned to animate mortal bo- 
dies, in order to expiate faults they had committed in a 
pre-existent state. 

. For we may be assured, from the infinite goodness of 
their Creator, that they were at first joined to the purest 
matter,* and placed in those regions of the universe 
which were most suitable to the purity of essence they 
then possessed ; for that the souls of men are an order of 
essentially incorporate spirits, their deep immersion into 
terrestrial matter, the modification of all their operations 
by it, and the heavenly body, promised in the Gospel, as 
the highest perfection of our renewed nature, clearly 
evince. Therefore, if our souls existed before they ap- 
peared inhabitants of the earth, they were placed in a 
purer element, and enjoyed far greater degrees of happi- 
ness. And certainly. He whose overflowing goodness 
brought them into existence, would not deprive them of 
their felicity, until, by their mutability, they rendered 
themselves less pure in the whole extent of their powers, 
and became disposed for the susception of such a degree 
of corporeal life, as was exactly answerable to their pre- 
sent disposition of ppirit. Hence it was necessary, that 
they should become terrestrial men. 

III. That the soul of Christ was united to the Word 
before the incarna^ion.'f 

* Origen supposed ""hat our souls, being incorporeal and invisible, 
always stand in need f bodies suitable to the nature of the places where 
they exist. 

f See this subjec* nore fully illustrated in Dr. Watts' Glory of, 
Christ. 



246 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

For the Scriptures teach us, that the soul of the Mes- 
siah was created before the beginning of the world. See 
Phil. ii. 5, 6, 7. This text must be understood of Christ's 
human soul, because it is unusual to propound the Deity 
as an example of humility, in scripture. Though the hu- 
manity of Christ was so God-like, he emptied himself of 
this fulness of life and glory, to take upon him the form 
of a servant. It was this Messiah, who conversed with 
the patriarchs under a human form ; it was he, who ap- 
peared to Moses upon the Holy Mount : it was he, who 
spoke to the prophets under a visible appearance ; and it 
is he, who will at last come in triumph upon the clouds, 
to restore the universe to its primitive splendor and 
felicity. 

IV. That, at the resurrection, we shall be clothed with 
ethereal bodies. 

For the elements of our terrestrial compositions are 
such, as almost fatally entangle us in vice, passion, and 
misery. The purer the vehicle the soul is united with, 
the more perfect is her life and operations. Besides, the 
Supreme Goodness, who made all things, assures us, he 
made all things best at first ; and therefore, his recovery 
of us to our lost happiness (which is the design of the 
Gospel) must restore us to our better bodies and happier 
habitations; which is evident from 1 Cor. xv. 49, 2 Cor. 
V. 1, and other texts of Scripture. 

y. That, after long periods of time, the damned shall 
be released from their torments, and restored to a new 
state of probation. 

For the Deity has such reserves in his gracious provi- 
dence as will vindicate his sovereign goodness and wis- 
dom from all disparagement. Expiatory pains are a part 
of his adorable plan. For this sharper kind of favor 
has a righteous place in such creatures as are by nature 
mutable. Though sin has extinguished or silenced the 
divine life, yet it has not destroyed the faculties of rea- 
son and understanding, consideration and memory, which 
will serve the life, which is most powerful. If therefore, 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 247 

tlie vigorous attraction of the sensual nature be abated by 
a ceaseless pain, these powers may resume the seeds of a 
better life and nature. 

As in the material system, there is a gravitation of the 
less bodies towards the greater, there must of necessity, 
be something analogous to this in the intellectual system : 
and since the spirits created by God are emanations and 
streams from his own abyss of being, and as self-existent 
power must needs subject all beings to itself, the Deity 
could not but impress upon her intimate natures and sub- 
stances, a central tendency towards himself, an essential 
Drinciple of reunion to their great original. 

VI. That the earth, after its conflagration, shall become 
habitable again, and be the mansion of men and other 
animals, and that in eternal vicissitudes. 

For it is thus expressed in Isaiah : '' Behold, I make 
new heavens and a new earth;" and in Heb. i. 10-12 
^'Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations 
of the earth : As a vesture shalt thou change them, 
and they shall be changed." Where there is only a 
change, the substance is not destroyed; this change being 
only as that of a garment worn out and decaying. The 
fashion of the world passes away like a turning scene, to 
exhibit a fresh and new representation of things ; and if 
only the present dress and appearance of things go off, the 
substance is supposed to remain entire. 

QUIETISTS. 

This name has been generally applied to a class of en- 
thusiasts, who conceive the great object of religion to be 
the absorption of all human sentiments and passions into 
devout contemplation and love of God. This idea has 
found its admirers and encomiasts in all ages. A sect 
called by this name (in Greek ResycJiastce) existed among 
the religious of Mount Athos ; and in the 17th century 
it was given in France to a peculiar class of devout per- 
sons with a tendency towards a higher spiritual devotion, 



248 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

whicli seems to have arisen, in a great measure, out of a 
natural oposition to the hierarchical coldness and positive 
immorality of the Roman Catholic religion at that time, 
especially under the influence of the Jesuits. 

A Spanish priest, Molinos, published at Rome a work 
entitled The Spiritual Guide (1657), of which the ardent 
language attracted a multitude of partisans. Its leading 
feature was the description of the happiness of a soul re- 
posing in perfect quiet on God, so as to become conscious 
of his presence only, and untroubled by external things. 
He even advanced so far as to maintain that the soul, in 
its highest state of perfection, is removed even beyond 
the contemplation of God himself, and is solely occupied 
in the passive reception of divine influences. The work 
of Molinos was afterwards condemned on the application 
of the Jesuits. 

Akin to the ideas of Molinos seems to have been those 
of the French Quietists, of whom Madame de la Motte 
Guyon and Fenelon are the most celebrated names. The 
former was at one time treated as insane, on account of 
some strange delusions which led her to represent herself' 
(unless she was calumniated) as the mystical woman of 
the Apocalypse ; at another she was admitted to the inti- 
macy of Madame de Maintenon, and high in court favor, 
Fenelon praised her in his treatise Sur la Vie Interieure 
(1691), in which many of the most dangerous tenets of 
Quietism were contained. The writings of the latter upon 
this subject were finally condemned by Innocent XII; 
and the example of the Archbishop in submitting to the 
decision, and declaring himself satisfied and convinced by 
the opinion of the church, has been dwelt on by pious 
writers as a signal triumph of a truly religious mind. 

The dissolute conduct of some hypocritical priests, un- 
der the pretence of inculcating the tenets and practice of 
Quietism, brought it eventually into disrepute more than 
the repeated condemnations of the head of the Roman 
Catholic church. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. '249 



MANIC HEISTS. 



These were the followers of Manes, an Oriental heretic 
of the third century, who, having been ordained a Chris- 
tian presbyter, attempted to effect a combination between 
the religion which he was appointed to preach, and the 
current philosophical systems of the East. He pursued 
herein the same course as the Valentinians, Basilidians, 
and many others, whose leading ideas may be denominated 
Gnostic. He maintained a dualism of principles govern- 
ing the world, and a succession of dualisms generated from 
them, like the Gnostic aeons. 

All things were effected by the combination or repul- 
sion of the good and the bad ; men had a double soul, 
good and evil ; even their bodies were supposed to be 
formed, the upper half by God, the lower by the devil. 
The Old Testament was referred to the inspiration of the 
evil principle, the New to that of the good. In the latter, 
however. Manes proposed many alterations, and main- 
tained also the authenticity of various apocryphal Scrip- 
tures. A great part of his system related to cosmogony 
and psychology, in which fields of speculation he expatiated 
with the most arbitrary freedom. Like most other Oriental 
systems, the Manichean heresy was celebrated alike for 
the austerities which it enjoined, and for the scandalous 
excesses which were attributed to its most zealous votaries. 
The charge of Manicheism, which in latter times becomes 
scarcely intelligible, was frequently brought against the 
early reforming sects, such as the Albigenses, Waldenses, 
and Picards. 

Manes commanded his followers to mortify and mace- 
rate the body, which he looked upon as essentially cor- 
rupt ; to deprive it of all those objects which could con- 
tribute either to its convenience or delight ; to extirpate 
all those desires which lead to the pursuit of external ob- 
jects ; and to divest themselves of all the passions and in- 
stincts of nature. 



250' HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, OR CAMPBELLITES. 

Several important movements of a reformatory nature 
have occurred in the American Church during its past his- 
tory ; one of the most influential and extensive of which 
was that effected by Thomas and Alexander Campbell, 
and which is now embodied in the denomination known by 
the title of "Disciples of Christ," or by the more popular 
epithet of " Campbellites." Shortly after the commence- 
ment of the present century, the Rev. Thomas Campbell, 
a prominent clergyman of the Seceder Church, emigrated 
from the North of Ireland to the United States, and loca- 
ted in Washington county, Pennsylvania. He was ac- 
companied by his son Alexander, at that time a young 
man, and possessing superior talents, who had just com- 
pleted his studies for the ministry. Both of these labored 
at first among the destitute Seceder Churches in the west- 
ern part of Pennsylvania, and as they became more 
thoroughly acquainted with the state of sects and denomi- 
nations in this country, and observed the vast variety and 
number of religious organizations which here existed, they 
conceived the idea of accomplishing an union between them. 
The restoration of the primitive unity of the Christian 
Church was the prominent purpose for which they deter- 
mined to labor. 

The Campbells began to preach among the Seceders 
with reference to this object, and to aid in the accomplish- 
ment of it, they resolved to discard all human creeds and 
confessions, and receive the Scriptures as the only source 
of instruction and authority in the development and deter- 
mination of religious truth. They denied that confessions 
of faith were necessary, or even useful, to the success or 
purity of the Christian Church ; and they contended that 
the impartial and enlightened interpretation of the Bible 
would infallibly lead mankind to a knowledge of the truth. 

These views were of course very obnoxious to the rigor- 
ous sect of Seceders to which the Campbells belonged — a 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 251 

sect who had experienced innumerable splits and subsplits, 
divisions and subdivisions, in reference to the most minute 
and insignificant points of Christian doctrine and practice. 
The Campbells accordingly withdrew from them and es- 
tablished a congregation on Brush Run, in Washington 
county, in this State in 1810, which thus became the foun- 
dation of their future organization — the birthplace of one 
of the most numerous and influential denominations now 
existing in the southern and western States. The princi- 
ple on which the new Church was founded was simply 
this : That nothing should be received as a doctrine of be- 
lief, or as a maxim of duty, for which there could not be 
produced the authority of Scripture, either directly ex- 
pressed or indirectly implied by inference or example. 

Guided by this principle, the Campbells proceeded in 
the free examination of the Bible, and arrived at the con- 
clusion, as among the first fruits of their inquiries, that 
infant baptism was a usage not enjoined or approved by 
Scripture, and consequently improper. They also ob- 
jected to sprinkling, and contended that immersion was 
the only legitimate and valid method of administering the 
ordinance of baptism. In consequence of this expression 
of views, the Campbells and their adherents were invited 
to become members of the Redstone Baptist Association. 
They did so in 1813, and Alexander Campbell was ap- 
pointed the "Messenger" of the Brush Run Church to 
that association. Even among these people, however, Mr. 
Campbell's views were singular and extreme in consequence 
of their liberality ; his talents were so commanding, and 
his influence soon became so great, that the utmost jeal- 
ousy was excited. About this period he engaged in seve- 
ral public discussions on theological topics, which greatly 
extended his fame. One of these was with Rev. J. Wal- 
ker, a Seceder mmister ; the other was with Mr. McCalla, 
of the Presbyterian Church. Both debates discussed the 
subject of baptism, and the result in both instances was to 
create many converts to Mr. Campbell's doctrine. 

His adherents had become so numerous in 1828, that in 



252 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

that year a convention of preachers took place, composed 
chiefly of members of the Redstone Association, whose 
object was to consider the ancient and apostolic order of 
the church, and see what could be done to restore it. Af- 
ter proper deliberation they determined to reject all hu- 
man creeds, all ecclesiastical carpentry in the shape of 
confessions and formulas, and, receiving the Bible as the 
only source of authority, live and preach accordingly. 
This principle led them to the rejection of many usages 
which had been observed by the Baptists, with whom they 
had formerly been associated. Thus a new sect was or- 
ganized, based on diiferent principles and characterized by 
different practices from surrounding sects ; but the purpose 
of the new society was to attain unity by the adoption of 
a free and catholic principle which could attract and ulti- 
mately embrace members of the various sects, and thus 
incorporate them into one. From this period the '' Dis- 
ciples" formed a separate organization, the professed ob- 
ject of which was to restore pure and primitive Christianity 
both in letter and spirit, in doctrine and in practice. 

In accordance with this principle the establishment of- 
the doctrinal belief of this denomination has been progres- 
sive in its nature, and the diiferent leading theories which 
they entertain have been developed successively. The 
starting point was the essential nature and importance of 
Christian unity in the Christian church. Ten years after- 
wards the doctrine of the immersion of adults was accepted 
as the only proper mode of baptism, and as the only means 
by which men could obtain remission of sins, and could ap- 
propriate to themselves the blessings of the gospel. And 
thus all the other leading doctrines which they now enter- 
tain were successively approved and adopted. 

A^xander Campbell, the chief founder of this denomi- 
nation, was without question one of the ablest polemics 
and theologians in this country. He conducted many 
public debates, some of which have been with the most 
eminent men of the day — such as Bishop Purcell, of Cin- 
cinnati, on the subject of Romanism and Protestantism, 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 253 

and Mr. Robert Owen on Infidelity and Socialism. In 
both of these great logical tournaments Mr. Campbell 
was confessedly the victor. He has spent a long and 
active life in preaching the doctrines which he believes, 
and in establishing churches and institutions w^hich are 
intended to diffuse education and theological knowledge 
among the community. His efforts have been highly suc- 
cessful. His followers at this time are very numerous in 
Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri; 
and the whole number of communicants belonging to the 
Disciples' churches is about two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand, while their miiiisters number between two and three 
thousand. 

Among the leading peculiarities of this denomination 
are the following : they practice weekly communion, the 
Lord's Supper being administered in a simple manner on 
every Sunday. They are not in favor of close commu- 
nion, but are very liberal and charitable in this respect, 
permitting persons of piety belonging to other sects to 
commune with them. They observe the first day of the 
week, not as a Jewish or Christian Sabbath^ but as a day 
commemorative simply of Christ's resurrection, and use- 
ful as a season of religious worship. They condemn all 
written creeds and formulas of faith. Their church gov- 
ernment is congregational, each society having exclusive 
control of its own affairs. They believe that the Scrip- 
tures are the means employed by the Spirit to lead men to 
repentance, and th-at the contents of the Scriptures are the 
direct source of that faith by which the Gospel is received 
savingly and effectually. They discard the use of all hu- 
man terms and phraseology in speaking of religious truth, 
such as the "frmzYy," ''•triune,'" &c., confining themselves 
to the very words employed in Scripture. In consequence 
of this peculiarity, they have been charged with denying 
the doctrine of the Trinity ; but the truth is, that they be- 
lieve and receive every thing which the Scriptures affirm 
and teach in reference to the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. 



254 HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 



FLAGELLANTS. 

This denomination sprang up in Italy in the year 
1260, and was thence propagated through almost all the 
countries of Europe. They derive their name from the 
Latin flagello^ to whip. The society that embraced this 
new discipline ran in multitudes, composed of persons of 
both sexes, and all ranks and ages, through the public 
streets, with whips in their hands, lashing their naked bo- 
dies with the most astonishing severity, with a view to 
obtain the divine mercy for themselves and others, by 
their voluntary mortification and penance. This sect 
made their appearance anew in the fourteenth century, 
and taught, among other things, that flagellation was of 
equal virtue with baptism and the other sacraments ; that 
the forgiveness of all sins was to be obtained by it from 
God, without the merit of Jesus Christ ; that the old law 
of Christ was soon to be abolished, and that a new law, 
enjoining the baptism of blood, to be administered by 
whipping, was to be substituted in its place. 

A new denomination of Whippers arose in the fifteenth 
century, who rejected the sacraments and every branch 
of external worship, and placed their only hopes of salva- 
tion m faith dij-n^ flagellation. 

FEATKES ALBATI. 

A NAME which distinguished a denomination in the fif- 
teenth century. They owed their origin to a certain 
priest, who descended from the Alps, arrayed in a white 
garment, and accompanied with a prodigious number of 
both sexes, who, after the example of their chief, were 
also clothed in white linen. Hence they acquired the 
name Fratres Albati, i. e. White Brethren. They went 
in a kind of procession through several provinces, follow- 
ing a cross, which their leader held erected like a stan- 
dard, and by the striking appearance of their sanctity and 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 255 

devotion, captivated to such a degree the minds of the 
people, that persons of all ranks and orders flocked in 
crowds to augment their number. The new chief exhorted 
his followers to appease the anger of an incensed Deity ; 
emaciated his body by voluntary acts of mortification and 
penanoe, endeavored to persuade the European nations 
to renew war against the Turks in Palestine ; and pre- 
tended, that he was favored with divine visions, which in- 
structed him in the will and in the secrets of heaven. 

FRENCH PROPHETS. 

These first appeared in Dauphiny and Yivarais. In the 
year 1688, five or six hundred Protestants of both sexes 
gave themselves out to be Prophets, and inspired of the 
Holy Ghost. They soon became so numerous, that there 
were many thousands of them inspired. They had strange 
fits, which came upon them with tremblings and faintings 
as in a swoon, which made them stretch out their arms 
and legs, and stagger several times before they dropped 
down. They struck themselves with their hands ; they 
fell on their backs ; shut their eyes, and heaved with their 
breasts. They remained a while in trances, and coming 
out of them with twitchings, uttered all which came into 
their mouths. They said they saw the heavens open, the 
angels, paradise, and hell. Those who were just on the 
point of receiving the spirit of prophecy, dropped down, 
not only in the assemblies, crying out mercy, but in the 
fields, and in their own houses. The least of their assem- 
blies made up four or five hundred, and some of them 
amounted to even three or four thousand persons. When 
the Prophets had for a while been under agitations of 
body, they began to prophesy. The burden of their pro- 
phecies was, " Amend your lives ; repent ye ; the end of 
all things draws nigh." The hills rebounded with their 
loud cries for mercy ; and with imprecations against the 
Priests, the Church, the Pope, and against the Anti- 
Christian dominion ; with predictions of the approaching 



256 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

fall of Poperj. All they said at these times was heard 
and received with reverence and awe. 

In the year 1706, three or four of these Prophets came 
over into England, and brought their prophetic spirit along 
with them ; which discovered itself in the same ways and 
manners, by ecstasies, and agitations, and inspirations un- 
der them, as it had done in France. And they propaga- 
ted the like spirit to others, so that before the year was 
out, there were two or three hundred of these Prophets in 
and about London, of both sexes, of all ages, men, women, 
and children ; and they had delivered, under inspiration, 
four or five hundred prophetic warnings. 

The great thing they pretended by their spirit was, to 
give warning of the near approach of the kingdom of God, 
the happy times of the Church, the millennium state. 
Their message was, (and they were to proclaim it as her- 
alds to the Jews, and every nation under heaven, begin- 
ning first at England,) That the grand jubilee ; the accep- 
table year of the Lord ; the accomplishment of those nu- 
merous scriptures concerning the new heavens and the 
new earth ; the kingdom of the Messiah ; the marriage of 
the Lamb ; the first resurrection ; or the new Jerusalem 
descending from above, were now even at the door. That 
this great operation was to be wrought, on the part of 
man, by spiritual arms only, proceeding from the mouths 
of those, who should, by inspiration, or the mighty gift of 
the Spirit, be sent forth in great numbers to labor in the 
vineyard. That this mission of his servants should be 
witnessed to, by signs and wonders from heaveii, by a del- 
uge of judgments on the wicked universally throughout 
the world, as famine, pestilence, earthquakes, &c. That 
the exterminating angels shall root out the tares, and 
there shall remain upon earth only good corn. And the 
works of men being thrown down, there shall be but one 
Lord, one faith, one heart, and one voice, among mankind. 
They declared, that all the great things they spoke of, 
would be manifest over the whole earth, within the term 
of three years. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 257 

These Prophets also pretended to the gift of languages ; 
of discerning the secrets of the heart ; the gift of ministra- 
tion of the same spirit to others by the laying on of hands, 
and the gift of healing. 

To prove they were really inspired by the Holy Ghost, 
they alleged the complete joy and satisfaction they expe- 
rienced ; the spirit of prayer which was poured forth upon 
them ; and the answer of their prayers by God. 

LABBADISTS. 

A DENOMINATION which arose in the seventeenth cen- 
tury ; so called from their founder John Labbadie, a native 
of France, a man of no mean genius', and remarkable for 
a natural and masculine eloquence. He maintained 
among other things : 

I. That God might, and did, on certain occasions, de- 
ceive men. 

II. That the Holy Scripture was not sufficient to lead 
men to salvation, without certain particular illuminations 
and revelations from the Holy Ghost. 

III. That in reading the Scripture we ought to give less 
attention to the literal sense of the words, than to the in- 
ward suggestions of the Spirit : and that the efficacy of the 
word depended upon him that preached it. 

IV. That the faithful ought to have all things in common. 
Y. That there is no subordination, or distinction in the 

true church of Christ. 

VI. That Christ was to reign a thousand years upon 
earth. 

VII. That the contemplative life is a state of grace and 
union with God, and the very height of perfection. 

VIII. That the Christian, whose mind is contented and 
calm, sees all things in God, enjoys the Deity, and is per- 
fectly indifferent about every thing that passes in the world. 

IX. That the Christian arrives at that happy state by 
the exercise of a perfect self-denial, by mortifying the 
flesh afid all sensual affections, and by mental prayer. 

17 



258 HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 



L ATITUDIN ARIANS . 

A NAME which distinguislied those of the seventeenth 
century, who attempted to bring Episcopalians, Presby- 
terians, and Independents into one communion, by com- 
promising the difference between them. The chief leadera 
of this denomination were Hales and Chillingworth, men 
of distinguished wisdom and piety. The respectable 
names of More, Cudworth, Gale, Whitchcot, and Tillotson, 
add a high degree of lustre to this eminent list. 

They were zealously attached to the forms of ecclesias- 
tical government and worship, which were established in 
the church of England ; but they did not look upon Epis- 
copacy as absolutely and indispensably necessary to the con- 
stitution of the Christian church. Hence they maintained, 
that those who followed other forms of government and 
w^orship, were not, on that account, to be excluded from 
the communion, or to forfeit the title of brethren. They 
reduced the fundamental doctrines of Christianity to a few 
points. 

By this way of proceeding they showed, that neither the 
Episcopalians, who, generally speaking, were Arminians, 
nor the Presbyterians and Independents, who as generally 
adopted the doctrines of Calvin, had any reason to oppose 
each other with such animosity and bitterness ; since the 
subjects of their debates were matters of an indifferent na- 
ture with respect to salvation, and might be variously ex- 
plained and understood, without any prejudice to their 
eternal interests. 



LIBERTINES. 

This denomination arose in Elanders about the year 
1525 ; the heads of this party were one Copin and one 
Quintin of Picardy. 

The doctrines they taught, are comprised in the follow- 
ing propositions : 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 259 

I. That the Deity was the sole operating cause in the 
mind of man, and the immediate autlior of all human 
actions. 

II. That, consequently, the distinctions of good and 
evil, that had been established with respect to those actions, 
were false and groundless, and that man could not properly 
speaking, commit sin. 

III. That religion consisted in the union of the spirit, 
or rational soul, with the Supreme Being. 

IV. That all those who had attained this happy union, 
by sublime contemplation, and elevation of mind, were 
then allowed to indulge, without exception or restraint, 
their appetites and passions, as all their actions were then 
perfectly innocent. 

V. That after the death of the body, they were to be 
united to the Deity. 

CHINESE. 

Four different systems of religion are tolerated and 
even upheld by the people and government of China. 
The most ancient is that of the sect of Tau, founded 
by a native philosopher about 600 years before Christ. 
The founder is worshipped under the name of Shangtee, 
Supreme Lord, while a host of tutelary divinities, the 
wind, rain, thunder, etc., are personified and wor- 
shipped, and Emperors, warriors, and illustrious men 
are considered demi-gods. All these objects of devo- 
tion are embodied in idols of various shapes, which are 
kept in every house. The votaries regard the highest 
happ- ness attainable, to be that of perfect tranquillity, 
and utter indifference to every thing, past, preseut, or 
fu' are. 

This sect being the most ancient, is probably the 
most influential at the present day. It was at one 
time, almost the only religion of the empire. 

The next in point of influence, is a modified Bud- 



260 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

clliism, tlie worsliip of Fo, wliich was introduced about 
the year A. D. 69. 

Before the death of Fo, he is said to have called 
his disciples together, and instructed them that 
there was no other principle of things than a vacuum, 
or nothing; that from nothing all things sprung; 
that to nothing all will return, and that thus will 
end all our hopes and fears. After his death, the 
disciples told multitudes of fables concerning him, 
such as that he was still alive, and had been born 8000 
times, appearing in the form of an ape, a lion, a 
dragon, an elephant, etc. His last words caused dis- 
sensions among his followers, some adopting his last 
atheistical views, others attempting to reconcile his 
last teachings with his earlier tenets. The creed was 
classified as internal doctrine and external doctrine. 
Those who hold to the internal doctrine, believe in 
the most a'bsurd atheism, such as, that nothing is the 
beginning and end of all things : that all beings are 
the same, differing only in figure and quality, that the 
supreme happiness of man is in acquiring a resemblance 
to this principle of nothing, accustoming himself to do 
nothing, to feel nothing, and to desire nothing: that 
perfection is reached wlien all bodily motion, mental 
activity, and -sensation cease; that when this divine 
insensibility is attained, we have nothing to do with 
virtue or vice, rewards or punishments, providence or 
immortality, and have no changes, transmigrations or 
futurities to fear, but have ceased to exist, and become 
perfect like the god Fo. 

The external "doctrine teaches a distinction between 
good and evil, a reward for the good and punishment 
for the wicked after death. It acknowledges trans- 
migration of souls through different anim.als until pre- 
pared to unite with the Deity. It afiirms that the 
god Fo came upon earth to expiate the sins of men, 
and to secure for them a happy life to come. It teaches 
to pray to the god Fo, and to provide for his wor- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 261 

ship in sustaining priests .and temples, tliat through 
them and by repentance sins may be forgiven. There 
are ^ve commandments to be kept : Thou shalt not 
kill ; Thou shalt not steal ; Thou shalt not lie ; Thou 
shalt not commit impurity ; and thou shalt not drink 
wine. The punishment for breaking these command- 
ments is transmigration of *the soul into the bodies of 
rats, dogs, horses, serpents, etc. In consequence of this 
doctrine multitudes of idols, in the forms of birds, 
beasts and reptiles are worshipped as possibly the form 
which Fo may have taken in the course -of his trans- 
migration. 

The resemblance of the worship of the Hindoo 
Budha and the Chinese Fo, is "very striking, showing 
that they are one and the same system. Budha was 
the son of May-a and one of his names is Amita. Fo, 
of China was the son of Moya and his name is Om-e-to. 
The Meushin or guardian of the door in China is the 
same as G-anesa in India — in both countries his image 
is painted on almost every house. Many other points 
of similarity might be cited. 

Mohamedism also prevails among the Chinese to 
some extent. It is somewhat modified by the various 
superstitions of the other creeds, but is essentially the 
same as among the Arabs, by whom it was introduced 
when trading with the people. A large commerce was 
a.t one time carried on between 'the Chinese and the 
people of the West. 

The great overshadowing system of worship — it can 
hardly be called a religion — which pervades every 
grade of society in the Empire is that of Confucius, a 
philosopher who flourished about 550 years before 
Christ. The maxims laid down by this sage are still 
venerated by the Emperor on the throne and the 
lowest menial in the land. His was a .system of 
morals. He taught that it was a duty to live among 
men to endeavor to improve them — also, to reverence 
and pay homage to our ancestors, who were permitted 



262 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

to revisit their ancient homes, and had the power of 
conferring benefits upon their relatives — hence the 
worship of ancestors is inculcated as an indispensable 
duty — and the sacred rites performed in memory of 
the departed are the most conspicuous ceremonies of 
all classes. The natural result of the belief of visiting 
spirits is the introduction of the worship of genii or 
good and bad spirits. Confucius himself has sacrifices 
and sacred rites performed in honor of his memory — 
but while receiving all the honors of a god, is not 
called Diety. 

Besides the strictly religious ceremonies performed 
by the various sects, there are feasts celebrated with 
more or less zeal at various seasons of the year. These 
festivals are of a semi-religious character and among 
the common people are held as sacred duties. 

The first festival in the year is that of the shutting 
up of seals, which occurs about ISTew Year's day. Every 
Court in the Empire at this time locks up its seals, 
. and every one makes merry, taking greater liberty 
than usual in the general joy. The mathematical 
court determines with great nicety every thing per- 
taining the seals, both in regard to the locking up and 
opening, so that the ceremony takes place on the same 
day throughout the empire. The household gods of 
the Chinese are during this festival brought out and 
placed in the most conspicuous position possible over 
the door. This bringing out of the idols is common 
at every festival, but is not so generally observed upon 
other occasions. 

The next in order is the Feast of Lanterns, which 
takes place on the fifteenth of the first month. The 
origin of this solemn festival is not certain. One 
account is that a certain Mandarin whose daughter was 
drowned, went with all the people, carrying lanterns 
to find the body of the unfortunate damsel, but sought 
in vain^ and consoled himself by going through the 
same ceremony year after year until the feast was 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 263 

establislied. Anotlier story ascribes the origin to an 
extravagant project of an emperor who shut himself 
np in his magnificent palace with his concubines. He 
illuminated the halls with gorgeous lanterns shutting 
out all other light, that he might have for his canopv 
a sky which would be always calm and serene, and 
thus shut out from his memory the revolutions and 
strifes of the world. This singular conduct and 
neglect of duties aroused the wrath of his subjects, 
who demolished the palace, and, as a warning to 
future emperors and to transmit the remembrance of 
all such shameful conduct to posterity, hung lanterns 
over the city, thus establishing the feast. 

On this festival every one hangs out some kind of a 
lantern. The wealthy vie with each other in the 
magnificence and size of their oiFerings. Some of 
these lanterns are twenty or thirty feet in diameter, in 
which entertainments are given. The appearance of a 
Chinese city during the continuance of this festival is 
grotesque and beautiful beyond description. 

The Festival of Agriculture, instituted by an empe- 
ror about one hundred and eighty years before Christ, 
to encourage the pursuit of agriculture, is another 
feast of great solemnity. The Magistrates of the 
country take leading parts in the ceremonies. The 
streets are decorated with arches and the houses are 
hung with tapestry. One feature of the celebration 
is a huge image of a cow made of clay and carried 
by forty men. Sitting on this is a beautiful boy who 
represents the genius of industry. When the proces- 
sion reaches the emperor's palace, the garlands and 
fiowers and the other trappings are taken off the image, 
which is then opened, disclosing several small cows 
composed of clay. These are distributed by the Em- 
peror to his ministers, to remind them of their duties 
in the care of husbandry. The people are exhorted 
never to let a piece of ground lie fallow, to avoid idle, 
ness, and are taught to practice industry by the ex- 



264 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIOXS. 

ample of the emperor himself performing some ap- 
propriate manual labor. 

Thus, it will be seen that the existing worship in 
China is a confused mixture of superstitions of which 
individuals receive and observe what they please — 
while the government upholds bj its patronage nearly 
every form of idolatry that can be imagined. Tho 
vast number of people embracing these superstitions, 
within the limits of the Chinese Empire alone, can not 
be far from 450,000,000, figures far beyond our con- 
ception. Are not these multitudes worth a thousand 
times the efibrts which have been put forth to deliver 
them from darkness? The missionary enterprises 
which have been organized during the Century have 
made but little impression on the tone of public opin- 
ion or morals of the people, but a sure foot-hold has 
been obtained, and the regeneration of these millions 
will surely come, for the Lord hath said it. 

JAPANESE. 

The Japanese are divided into two religious sects, 
those of Sinto and Budsdo. The former is the most 
ancient. The followers acknowledge a Supreme Being 
who inhabits highest heaven, but who is too great to 
require any worship. They admit a multitude of 
lesser divinities who govern earth, air, water, and 
have dominion over the human race. They believe 
that the good go to a region just under heaven, while 
the wicked are doomed to wander to and fro about the 
universe. Their places of worship contain no visible 
idols although sometimes a small idol of some infe- 
rior divinity to whom the temple is dedicated, is kept 
in a small box. A large mirror is frequently placed 
in the centre of the temple that the worshippers may 
be reminded, that as they can see their blemishes in 
the mirror, so can the gods perceive their most hidden 
thoughts. The devotees bow before these reflectors, 
proffer their prayers, present their offerings and pro- 



HISTORY OS' ALL RELIGIONS. 265 

ceed tor their amusements. The Mikado belongs to 
this sect and worships at the temple at least once an- 
nually. 

Budsdo's doctrine is, like the Buddhism of India, 

freatly mixed with still more absurd superstitions. 
^ 'his sect believes that animals and men are equally 
immortal. That the wicked are punished by passing 
after death into the bodies of beasts and reptile^ 
Every trade has its tutelar divinity, represented by 
idols, which are characterized by their uncouth and 
ugly forms. As many as three thousand of these un- 
gainly monsters have been counted in one temple. 
JBoth sects have monks and nuns or priests who have 
their peculiar duties to perform. Part of them are 
fortune-tellers and quack doctors, and others are beg- 
gars who bind themselves to live upon roots and 
traverse woods and mountain. 

MILLENAEIANS, 

A NAME given to those who believe that the saints will 
reign on earth with Jesus Christ a thousand years. 

The Millenarians hold, that after the coming of Anti- 
christ, and the destruction of all nations which shall fol- 
low, there shall be a first resurrexjtion of the just alone. 
That all who shall be found upon earth, both good and 
bad, shall continue alive ; the good to obey the just, who 
are risen as their princes ; the bad to be conquered by the 
just, and to be subject to them. That Jesus Christ will then 
descend from heaven in his glory. That the city of Jeru- 
salem will be rebuilt, enlarged, embelhshed, and its gates 
stand open night and day. They applied to this new Je- 
rusalem, what is said in the Apoc. chap, xxi., and to the 
temple, all that is written in Ezek. xxxvi. Here they 
pretended Jesus Christ will fix the seat of his empire, and 
reign a thousand years, with the saints, patriarchs, and 
prophets, who will enjoy perfect and uninterrupted feli- 
eity. 



266 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

The ancient Millenarians were divided in opinion : some 
pretended, that the saints should pass their time in corpo- 
real delights ; others that they should only exercise them- 
selves in spiritual pleasures. 

The opinions of some celebrated modern authors, con- 
cerning the Millennium, are as follow : 

Dr. Thomas Burnet and Mr. Whiston concur in assert- 
ing, that the earth will not be entirely consumed : but thaJ 
the matter of which it consists, will be fixed, purified, and 
refined ; which the action of fire upon it will naturally 
efi'ect. They suppose, that from these materials thus re- 
fined, as from a second chaos, there will, by the will of 
God, arise a new creation ; and that the face of the earth, 
and likewise the atmosphere, will then be so restored, as 
to resemble what it originally was in the paradisaical 
state ; and consequently, to render it a more delightful 
abode for human creatures than it is at present. They 
urge for this purpose the following texts : 2 Pet. iii. 13. 
" Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new 
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 
See also Matt. xiii. 29, 30. Luke xvii. 29, 30. Acts 
iii. 21. 

They both suppose, that the earth, thus beautified and 
improved, shall be inhabited by those who shall inherit 
the first resurrection, and shall here enjoy a very consid- 
erable degree of happiness; though not equal to that, 
which is to succeed the general judgment ; which judgment 
shall, according to them, open, when the thousand years 
are expired, mentioned in Rev. xx. 4. 

Though Mr. Fleming does not entirely agree with the 
above mentioned scheme, he interprets Rev. xx. 6, as re- 
ferring to a proper resurrection ; of which he supposes 
that the event, which is recorded in Matt, xxvii. 32, was 
a pledge. He conjectures, that the most celebrated saints, 
of the Old Testament times, then arose, and ascended with 
Christ to heaven. Agreeable to this he apprehends, that 
the saints, who are to be subjects of the first resurrection, 
will appear to some of the inhabitants of this earth, which 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 267 

may be the means of reviving religion among them. Yet 
they will not have their abode here. But during the thou- 
sand years, in which the kingdom of Christ will have the 
highest triumph on earth, they shall be rejoicing with him 
in heaven, in a state of happiness far superior to that 
which they enjoyed in a separate state ; yet not equal to 
that which is to be expected after the general judgment. 
To this peculiar privilege of the martyrs, and some other 
eminent saints, he supposed St. Paul to have referred. 
Phil. iii. 9, 11. 

This author argues, that as there has been already a 
special resurrection of the more eminent saints of the Old 
Testament ; it is rational to conclude, from the ideas we 
form of Christ, as a just and impartial judge, that the emi- 
nent saints of the New Testament, who lived and died 
under sufferings, shall be rewarded by a special resurrec- 
tion to glory, when Christ shall give universal peace and 
prosperity to the Church. 

Mr. Ray agrees that there will be a renovation of the 
earth ; and though he does not grant, as some have sup- 
posed, the same animals which once lived, shall be raised 
again, yet he supposes that other like animals will be 
created anew, as well as similar vegetables, to adorn the 
earth, and to support the animals, only in higher degrees 
of beauty and perfection than they ever before possessed. 

But he pretends not to determine, whether this new 
earth, thus beautified and adorned, after the general resur- 
rection, shall be the seat of a new race of men, or only 
remain as the object of contemplation to some happy spir- 
its who may behold it, though without any rational ani- 
mals to inhabit it, as a curious plan of the most exquisite 
mechanism. 

He argues, that the apostle, speaking of the heavens 
and earth says, " As a vesture thou shalt fold them up, 
and they shall be changed." Heb. i. 12. To be changed, 
is different from being annihilated and destroyed. The 
earth shall be transfigured, or its outward form changed, 
not its matter or substance destroyed. 



268 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Dr. Whitbj supposes the Millennium to refer entirely 
to the prosperous state of the Christian Church, after the 
conversion of the Jews. That then shall begin a glorious 
and undisturbed reign of Christ over both Jew and Gen- 
tile, to continue a thousand years. And as John the Bap- 
tist was Elias, because he came in the spirit and power 
of Elias ; so shall this be the Church of martyrs, and of 
those who have not received the mark of the beast, because 
the spirit and purity of the times of the primitive martyrs 
shall return. 

He argues, that it would be a great detriment to the 
glorified saints, to be brought down to dwell upon earth, in 
the most pleasing form which it can be supposed to put on. 

That it is contrary to the genius of the Christian reli- 
gion, to suppose it built on temporal promises. Eor the 
Christian is represented as one, who is entirely dead to 
the world, and whose conversation is in heaven. Phil., 
iii. 19. 

Mr. Worthington's scheme is, that the gospel, being in- 
tended to restore the ruins of the fall, will gradually 
meliorate the world, till by a train of natural consequences, 
under the influence of divine providence and grace, it is 
restored to a paradisaical state. He supposes this plan is 
already advanced through some important stages, of which 
he thinks the amendment of the earth's natural state at 
the deluge, which, with Dr. Sherlock, he maintains to 
have been a very considerable one. He considers all im- 
provements in learning and arts, as well as the propaga- 
tion of the gospel among the heathen nations, as the pro- 
cess of this scheme. But he apprehends much greater 
advances are to be made, about the year of Christ, 2000, 
when the Millennium will commence ; which shall be, ac- 
cording to him, such a glorious state as Dr. Whitby sup- 
poses ; but with this additional circumstance, that after 
some interruption from the last effects of wickedness by 
Gog and Magog, this shall terminate in the yet nobler 
state of the new heaven and the new earth, spoken of in 
Kev. xxi. xxii., which he supposes, will be absolutely para- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 269 

dise restored. And that all natural and moral evil shall 
be banished from the earth, and death itself shall have no 
further place. But good men shall continue in the high- 
est rectitude of state, and in the greatest imaginable de- 
gree of terrestrial felicity, till the coming of Christ, and 
universal judgment, close this beautiful and delightful 
scene, perhaps several thousand years hence. Indeed he 
seems to intimate some apprehension, that the consummation 
of all things will happen about the year of the world 
25,920 ; the end of the great year, as the Platonics called 
it, when the equinoxes shall have revolved. The reason- 
ing by which those conjectures are supported is too 
diffuse to be represented. 

Mr. Lowman agrees with Dr. Whitby, in supposing the 
Scripture description of the Millennium to be figurative ; 
representing the happy state of the church upon its deliv- 
erance from the persecution, and corruption of the third 
period. 

He regarded the book of Revelation, after the fifth 
chapter, as a prophetic representation of the most re- 
markable events, which were to befal the Christian church, 
from that time to the consummation of all things. 

He divides the remainder into seven periods. The first 
of which represented by seals, shews according to* him, the 
state of the church under the heathen Roman emperors, 
from the year 95 to 323. 

The second period, which is that of the trumpets, ac- 
cording to him, relates to what was to happen in the 
Christian church, A. D. 337 to 750, when the Mahometan 
conquests ceased in the west. 

The third period, according to him, represents the state 
of the church and world, in the time of the last head of 
the Roman government, ^. e. under the popes, for 1260 
years, viz. from A. D. 756 to 2016. Each of the vials, 
which are poured out, he supposes to denote some great 
judgment upon the Papal kingdom. 

The sixth and seventh vials he supposes are yet to 



270 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

come ; and tliat tlie seventli will complete the final destruc- 
tion of Rome. 

The fourth period is that of a thousand years, or the 
Millennium, in which the church will be in a most pros- 
perous state, A. D. 2000 to 3000. So that the seventh 
chiliad is to be a kind of sabbath. 

The fifth period is the renewed invasion of the enemies 
of the church, for a short time, not defined, but which is 
to end in their final extirpation and ruin. Chap. xx. 7, 10. 

The sixth period is the general resurrection, and final 
judgment, Chap. xx. 11, 15, which terminate. 

In the seventh grand period, in which the saints are 
represented as fixed in a state of everlasting triumph and 
happiness in the heavenly world. Chap. xxi. 1, 5. 

Dr. Cotton Mather supposed that the conflagration 
would take place at Christ's second personal coming. 
That after this great event, God will create new heavens, 
and a new earth. The raised saints will inhabit the new 
heaven, attending on our Saviour there, and receiving in- 
conceivable rewards for their services and sufi'erings for 
his sake. The new earth will be a paradise, and inhabited 
by those, who shall be caught up to meet the Lord, and 
be with him in safety, while they see the earth flaming 
under them. They shall return to the new earth, possess 
it, and people it with an ofispring, who shall be sinless 
and deathless. The raised saints in the new heavens, 
who will neither marry, nor be given in marriage, but be 
equal to the angels, will be sent down from time to time, 
to the new earth, to be teachers and rulers, and have 
power over nations. And the will of God will be done on 
earth as it is in heaven. This dispensation will continue 
at least for a thousand years. There will be a translation 
from the new earth to the new heavens, either successively 
during the thousand years, or all at once, after the termi- 
nation of that period. 

Dr. Bellamy supposed that the Millennium will be a 
glorious scene of Christ's spiritual reign on earth, when 
universal peace shall prevail ; wars, famines, and all deso- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 271 

latirig judgments be at an end ; industry shall flourisli, 
and all luxury, intemperance, and extravagance be ban- 
ished. Then this globe will be able to sustain with food 
and raiment, a number of inhabitants immensely greater 
than ever dwelt upon it at a time. And if all those shall, 
as the Scripture asserts, " know the Lord from the least 
to the greatest, and the knowledge of the Lord fill the 
earth as the waters do the sea," for a thousand years to 
gether, it will naturally come to pass, that there will be 
more saved in those thousand years, than ever before 
dwelt upon the face of the earth from the foundation of 
the world. 

Some understand the thousand years in the Kevelation, 
agreeable to other prophetical number^s in that book, a day 
for a year. By that rule, as the Scripture year contains 
360 days, the thousand years will amouDt to 360,000 
years ; in which there might be millions saved, to one 
which has been lost. But if this glorious ^period is to last 
only a thousand years literally, there may be many more 
tsaved than lost. 



PRE-EXISTENTS. 

A TERM which may not improperly be applied to those 
who hold the doctrine of Christ's pre-existence. This 
name comprehends two classes ; the Arians, who defend 
Christ's pre-existence, but deny that he is a divine person ; 
and others on the Calvinist system, who assert both his 
divinity, and that his intelligent created soul was produced 
into being, and united, by an ineffable union, to the second 
person of the Trinity, before the heavens and the earth 
were created.* 

Under the article Arians, the reader has been presented 
with the view of the system of Arius and his immediate 
followers. 

* This class of Pre-existents are not entirely agreed in their se»ti« 
tients. 



272 HISTORY OF ALL RELiaiONS. 

The sentiments of the celebrated Dr. Richard Price, are 

brought to view under the article Unitaria.ns. And, per- 
haps, some may be gratified with a short sketch of the 
plan, which was maintained by Dr. Samuel Clarke. 

This learned man held that there is one supreme cause 
and original of all things ; one simple, uncompounded, un- 
divided, intelligent agent, or person.* And that from the 
beginning, there existed with the first and supreme cause, 
or Father, a second person, called the Word, or Son. 
This Son, is our Lord Jesus Christ. He derived his being, 
his attributes, and his powers from the Father ; he is there- 
fore called the Son of God, and the only begotten. f For 
generation, when applied to God, is only a figurative word, 
signifying immediate derivation of being and life from him. 
This production or derivation of the Son is incomprehen- 
sible, and took place before the world began. To prove, 
that Jesus Christ was generated, or produced into being 
before the world was created, the Dr. adduces the follow- 
ing considerations. 

The Father made the world by the operation of the 
Son. John i. 3, 10. 1 Cor. viii. 6. Eph. iii. 9, &c. The 
action of the Son, both in making the world, and in all 
his other operations, is only the exercise of the Father's 
power communicated to him, after a manner to us un- 
known. 

That all Christ's authority, power, knowledge, and glory, 
are the Father's communicated to him, Dr. Clarke endeav- 
ors to prove by a variety of passages of scripture. 

The Son before his incarnation with God, was in the 

* This learned divine considers this doctrine as the foundation of 
piety, and the first principle of natural religion. He supposes, that all 
the texts, which speak of the one God, the only God, the Father, the 
most High, are to be considered as establishing the personal unity of one 
only Supreuae Being. 

f Dr. Clarke avoids calling Christ a creature, as the ancient Ariaca 
did, and principally on that foundation disclaims the charge of Arian- 
inm. 



HISTORY OF AI.- RELIGIONS. 273 

form of God, and had glory with the Father. John i. 4 ; 
xvii. 5. Phil. ii. 5. 

The Son, before his incarnation, made visible appear- 
ances, and spake, and acted in the name and authority of 
the invisible Father. 

Dr. Clarke calls Christ a divine person, solely on ac- 
acount of the power and knowledge, which were communi- 
cated to him by the Father. He indeed owns, that Christ 
LS an object of religious worship ; but then he confines it to 
a limited sense. The worship paid to Christ terminates 
not in him, but in the supreme God and Lord of all. The 
doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ's human soul has 
been held by several divines, as Mr. Fleming and Dr. 
Goodwin. These gentlemen all profess to maintain the 
divinity of Christ. The following sketch of the plan of 
Dr. Watts, is selected from the rest. He maintained one 
supreme God, dwelling in the human nature of Christ, 
which he supposed to have existed the first of all creatures; 
and speaks of the divine Logos, as the wisdom of God, 
and the Holy Spirit as the divine power, or the influence 
and efi'ect of it ; which he says, is a scriptural person, i. e. 
spoken of figuratively in scripture, under personal char- 
acters.* 

In order to prove, that Christ's human soul existed 
previous to his incarnation, the following arguments are 
adduced : 

I. Christ is represented as his Father's messenger, or 
angel, being distinct from his Father, sent by his Father 
long before his incarnation, to perform actions, which seem 
to be too low for the dignity of pure Godhead. The ap- 
pearances of Christ to the patriarchs are described like the 
appearances of an angel, or man, really distinct from God, 
yet such an one in whom God or Jehovah had a peculiar 

* Dr. Watts says, in his preface to the Glory of Christ, that true 
»nd proper Deity is ascribed to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

The expression, Son of God, he supposes is a title appropriated ex- 
clusively to the humanity of Christ. 
18 



274 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

in-dwelling, or with wliom the divine nature had a per- 
sonal union. 

II. Christ, when he came into the world, is said, in seve- 
ral passages of scripture, to have divested himself of some 
glory, which he had before his incarnation. Now, if there 
had existed before this time nothing but his divine nature, 
this divine nature could not properly divest itself of any 
glory. " I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished 
the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, Fa- 
ther, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory 
which I had with thee before the world was." See John 
xvii. 4, 5. " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that though he Avas rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, 
that we, through his poverty, might be made rich." 2 Cor. 
viii. 9. It cannot be said of God, that he became poor. 
He is infinitely self-sufficient. He is necessarily and eter- 
nally rich in perfections and glories. Nor can it be said 
of Christ, as man, that he was rich, if he was never in a 
richer state before, than while he was on earth. 

It seems needful that the soul of Christ should pre-exist, 
that it might have opportunity to give its previous actual 
consent to the great and painful undertaking of atonement 
for our sins. It was the human soul of Christ, that endured 
the weakness and pain of his infant state, all the labors 
and fatigues of life, the reproaches of men, and the suffer- 
ings of death. The divine nature is incapable of sufiering. 
The covenant of redemption between the Father and Son 
is, therefore, represented in scripture as being made before 
the foundation of the world. To suppose, that simple 
Deity, or the divine essence, which is the same in all the 
three personalities, should make a covenant with itself, is 
inconsistent. 

Christ is the angel to whom God was in a peculiar man- 
ner united, and who, in this union, made all the divine 
appearances related in the Old Testament. 

God is often represented in scripture as appearing in a 
visible manner and assuming a human form. See Gen. iii. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 275 

8 ; xvii. 1 ; xxviii. 12 ; xxxii. 24. Exod. ii. 2, 3, and a 
variety of other passages. 

The Lord Jehovah, when he came down to visit men, 
carried some ensign of divine majesty ; he was surrounded 
with some splendid appearance. It was such a light ap- 
peared often at the door of the tahernacle, and fixed its 
abode on the ark between the cherubims. It was by the 
Jews, called the Shekinah, i. e. the habitation of God. 
Hence he is described as dwelling in light, and clothed 
with light as with a garment. In the midst of this bright- 
ness, there seems to have been sometimes a human shape 
and figure. It was probably of this heavenly light, that 
Christ divested himself, when he was made flesh. With 
this he was covered at his transfiguration in the mount, 
when his garments were white as the light. And at his 
ascension into heaven, when a bright cloud received or in- 
vested him, and when he appeared to John. Rev. i. 13. 
And it was with this, he prayed his Father would glo- 
rify him. 

Sometimes the great and blessed God appeared in the 
form of a man or angel. It is evident, that the true God 
resided in this man or angel ;* because, on account of this 
union to proper Deity, the angel calls himself God, the 
Lord God. He assumes the most exalted names and 
characters of Godhead. And the spectators, and the sa- 
cred historians, it is evident, considered him as true and 
proper God. They payed him the highest worship and 
obedience. He is properly styled the angel of God's 
presence. Isa. Ixiii. The messenger or angel of the 
covenant. Mai. iii. 1. 

This same angel of the Lord was the particular God 
and king of the Israelites. It was he who made a covenant 

* God considered in the person of the Father, is always represented 
as invisible, whom no man hath seen, nor can see. But Jesus Christ 
is described, as the image of the invisible God, the brightness of the 
Father's glory, and he in whom the Father dwells. Christ was there- 
fore the person by whom God appeared to man under the Old Testa- 
ment, by the name Jehovah. 



276 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

witli the patriarchs — who appeared to Moses in the burn- 
ing bush — who redeemed the Israelites from Egypt — ^who 
conducted them through the wilderness — who gave the 
law at Sinai — and transacted the affairs of the ancient 
church. 

The angels, who have appeared since our blessed Saviour 
])ecame incarnate, have never assumed the names, titles, 
characters, or worship belonging to God. Hence we may- 
infer, that the angel, who under the Old Testament, as- 
sumed divine titles, and accepted religious worship, was 
that peculiar angel of God's presence in whom God resi- 
ded, or who was united to the Godhead in a peculiar man- 
ner, even the pre-existent soul of Christ, who afterwards 
took flesh and blood upon him, and was called Jesus 
Christ on earth. 

Christ represents himself as one with the Father. I and 
the Father are one. John x. 30. See also John xiv. 10, 
11. There is, we may hence infer, such a peculiar union 
between God and the man Christ Jesus, both in his pre- 
existent and incarnate state, that he may properly be 
called God-man in one complex person. 

Among those expressions of scripture, which discover 
the pre-existence of Christ, there are several from which 
we may derive a certain proof of his divinity. 

Such are those places in the Old Testament, where the 
angel who appeared to the ancients is called God, the 
almighty God, Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, I am that 
I am, &c. 

Dr. Watts supposes, that the doctrine of the pre-exis- 
tence of the soul of Christ, explains dark and difficult 
scriptures, and discovers many beauties and proprieties of 
expression in the word of God, which on any other plan 
lie unobserved. For instance, in Col. i. 15, &c. Christ 
is described as the image of the invisible God, the first-born 
of every creature. His being the image of the invisible 
God, cannot refer merely to his divine nature, for that is 
as invisible in the Son as in the Father ; therefore it seems 
to refer to his pre-existent soul in union with the God- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 277 

head. Again, when man is said to be created in the im- 
age of God, Gen. i. 2, it may refer to the God-man, to 
Christ in his pre-existent state. God said, " Let us make 
man in our image, after our likeness." The word is re- 
doubled, perhaps to intimate, that Adam was made in the 
likeness of the human soul of Christ ; as well as that he 
bore something of the image and resemblance of the di- 
vine nature. 

From this view of Dr. Watts' plan, and what is exhibi- 
ted of the Arian scheme, the difference will be obvious. 
They are thus distinguished by Dr. Price : This system, 
says he, speaking of Dr. Watts' sentiments, differs from 
Arianism in asserting the doctrine of Christ's consisting 
of two beings, one the self-existent Creator, and the other 
a creature, made into one person by an ineffable union and 
in-dwelling, which renders the same attributes and honors 
equally applicable to both. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIANS. 

This denomination took its origin from the peculiar 
wants and circumstances which the Presbyterian Churches 
experienced in the early period of their existence in Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee. About the year 1800, preachers 
and congregations were very few in that vast country, 
which had then but recently been reclaimed from savage 
wildness by the emigration of the white adventurer. In 
the progress of time, a few Presbyterian clergymen, who 
gained a precarious livelihood by attending to the wants 
of widely extended or scattered churches, formed them- 
selves into an association which was known as the " Tran- 
sylvania Presbytery." In view of the great religious des- 
titution which existed in that part of the country, they 
felt justified in admitting to the ministry some young men 
who had not received a classical education, and whose at- 
tainments were in other respects inferior to those which 
are uniformly required of the candidates for the clerical 
office in the Presbyterian Churches. 



""S HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

his irregular conduct on tlie part of the Presbytery 
was the cause of the origin of this new sect. In October, 
1802, the Transylvania Presbytery was divided, by the 
order of the Synod of Kentucky, into two sections ; to one 
portion of which the name of the Cumberland Presbytery 
was given. Several years elapsed before the peculiar 
policy of this Presbytery in regard to licensing ministers 
was made the subject of dispute ; but in 1804 three of its 
preachers sent a remonstrance to the Synod of Kentucky, 
complaining of the matter and requesting the interposition 
of the higher court. Her Synod appointed commissioners 
to examine into the subject, and they cited the Cumber- 
land Presbytery, including all its candidates and licentiates, 
to appear before them. This order the Presbytery re- 
fused to obey, and after an ex parte hearing they were 
called on to submit the persons whom they had licensed 
and ordained to be reexamined as to their qualifications 
for the ministry. 

This order, also, the Presbytery resisted ; and the result 
was that eventually they were interdicted from continuing 
the exercise of their clerical functions. The Cumberland 
Presbytery then sent a petition to the General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Church, requesting a redress of griev- 
ances ; and in the meantime they resolved to lay aside the 
name of Presbytery and assume that of " Council." The 
result of this appeal to the General Assembly was that 
that body decided that they could not act in the matter, 
inasmuch as the appeal had not been regularly brought 
before them ; at the same time the Synod of Kentucky was 
advised to review its proceedings. The latter body accord- 
ingly did so ; but the result was, that it became more con- 
firmed in its conclusion than before. In 1807 it dissolved 
the Cumberland Presbytery by a formal and official reso- 
lution on the subject. 

In 1808 the " Council" again appealed to the General 
Assembly, and again the answer given was, that the latter 
body could not interfere in the matter. In 1809 the Sy- 
nod of Kentucky sent a memorial to the General Ass^- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 279 

bly, setting forth tlieir action in regard to the Cumberland 
Presbytery ; and the result was, that the General Assem- 
bly approved the action of the Synod, and excluded the 
Cumberland Presbytery from the Presbyterian Church. 

It now became necessary for the association to take 
action in regard to their future organization. Three or- 
dained preachers. Revs. Finis Ewing, Samuel McAdam, 
and Samuel King, were the founders of the new denomi- 
nation. In February, 1810, they organized themselves, 
assumed the title of the Cumberland Presbytery, and 
adopted a constitution setting forth their peculiar views. 
The chief feature of their doctrinal belief was, that they 
denounced the dogma of fatality, or the rigid Calvinistic 
theory of election and reprobation, as taught in the Con- 
fession of Faith and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church. 
They also confined the examination of candidates for the 
ministry to the branches of English grammar, geography, 
astronomy, natural and moral philosophy, and church his- 
tory. Examinations in the several departments of theo- 
logical science were not required. The object of the 
Presbytery was merely to admit those to the ministry 
whose practical abilities for preaching were of a commend- 
able character. Immediately after the organization of 
the Presbytery a large number of persons were licensed to 
preach, and the work of organizing and establishing con- 
gregations on those popular principles was commenced 
with vigor and activity. 

Very considerable success attended these labors. In a 
new country, preachers of this description are much more 
efficient and useful than in older and more cultivated com- 
munities. Accordingly the Cumberland Presbyterians 
soon became numerous in Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
not many years elapsed before their influence and numbers 
extended to the neighboring States. In 1813, a Synod. 
was formed out of the various churches of the sect, which 
had three Presbyteries connected with it. At this time 
they so modified the Westminster Confession of Faith aa 
to expunge the objectionable points, especially that having 



280 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

reference to absolute decrees, and adapt it for the use of 
the members of the church. The chief points of difference 
which were introduced into that Confession were as fol- 
lows : They deny that the doctrines of Election or Kepro- 
bation, as taught in the Bible, are absolute, irrespective 
of faith or men's conduct ; but that Christians are elected 
and chosen in consideration of their voluntary obedience, 
and that the wicked are reprobated in consideration of their 
voluntary disobedience. They teach that Christ tasted death 
for every man ; that all persons who die in infancy are saved 
through the merits of Christ and the sanctifying influence of 
the Holy Spirit ; thus condemning the good old rigidly Pres- 
byterian doctrine, that 'Hhere are infants in hell not a span 
long,'' They believe, also, that the Holy Spirit operates 
on all men in such a manner that they may be saved, and 
that the reason wh^ the Spirit is effectual in one case and 
not in another, is because the dispositions of the persons 
subjected to its influence are different. 

In the progress of time the Cumberland Presbyterians 
established a General Assembly, which convened for the, 
first time at Princeton, Kentucky, in May, 1829. By 
this means they organized the Presbyterian form of 
church government among themselves to its full extent, 
including Pastor, Session, Presbytery, Synod, and General 
Assembly. About this period they founded a college at 
Princeton, Ky., of which the Rev. F. R. Cossit was elected 
the first president. The sect have also another college at 
Lebanon, Tennessee, of which Rev. Richard Beard was 
the first president. Subsequently several church papers 
were established at different places, such as the Banner of 
Peace, at Lebanon, Tennessee ; the ArJc, at Memphis ; and 
the Cumberland Presbyterian^ at Uniontown, Pennsyl- 
vania. The sect was introduced into Western Pennsyl- 
vania about the year 1831, and. some churches still exist 
in that region of country. Not a few also are to be found 
in Texas, where a Synod has been organized. Several 
Presbyteries exist in connection with it, and a paper called 
the Texas Presbyterian. The denomination has a Board 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 281 

of Foreign and Domestic Missions, a Book Agency, estab- 
lished at Louisville, Kentucky, and several other useful 
institutions. Its members generally reside in the Southern 
States. There are twenty Synods in connection v^^ith the 
General Assembly, seventy Presbyteries, eight hundred 
congregations, seven hundred preachers, and about a hun- 
dred thousand communicants. 

WESLETAN METHODISTS. 

The sect of Wesleyan Methodists arose in this country 
in the year 1824, in consequence of the dissatisfaction 
entertained by many members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church with the introduction of Bishops into the govern- 
ment of that Church. They contended that not only is 
such an order in the ministry unscriptural, but also in ex- 
press violation of the wishes of John Wesley. They quote 
a declaration of that eminent man as contained in one of 
his letters to Mr. Ashbury, in which he speaks as follows : 
^' One instance of this, your greatness, has given me great 
concern. How can you, how dare you, suffer yourself to 
be called a Bishop ? I shudder at the very thought. 
Men may call me a man, or a fool, or a rascal, or a scoun- 
drel, and I am content ; but they shall never, with my 
consent, call me a Bishop. For my sake, for God's sake, 
for Christ's sake, put a full end to this." 

But Episcopacy was introduced into the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church in spite of Wesley's earnest protest against 
it ; and those members who could not reconcile their con- 
sciences to this policy left the denomination, and formed 
the Wesleyan Methodist Church. They were also in favor 
of a more democratic and popular form of ecclesiastical 
government, by which the laity would be allowed to have 
some share in the control of the affairs of the churches. The 
reformers held their first conference m Baltimore, in No- 
vember, 1828. Their second meeting was in November, 
1830, at which time they matured and adopted definite ar- 
ticles of association, together with a constitution and, dis- 



282 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

cipline. They also declared their abhorrence of the insti- 
tution of American slavery, and forbade any of their mem- 
bers to have any connection with it. A more complete 
organization was subsequently made at Utica, N. Y., in 
May, 1843. They then organized annual conferences, 
enrolled three hundred itinerant preachers, holding regu- 
lar appointments, and recognized about twenty thousand 
members. They have congregations in the New England 
States, in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
and a few of the Western States. They possess few liter- 
ary or theological institutions, and are noted chiefly for 
their zeal in promoting revivals and the practical aims of 
religion. 

METHODIST PEOTBSTANT CHURCH. 

This sect arose from a secession from the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, which took place about the year 1828, 
and which was occasioned by the dissatisfaction of some 
of the members of that denomination with the doctrine that 
the entire government of the Church should be vested in 
the preachers, to the total exclusion of the laity. The 
Methodist Episcopal Church forbids her members to have 
anything to do with ecclesiastical affairs in her deliberative 
bodies, and denies that the people have any right to a 
voice and a representation in the Conferences. A schism 
arose in the Church about the time named, in reference to 
a proposed change in this respect, which has resulted in 
the organization of the Methodist Protestant Church. 

The chief difference between these denominations are 
two : the one being that of lay representation in the An- 
nual and General Conferences ; and the other, the parity of 
the ministry, that is, the doctrine that there should be no 
difference of rank or order in the ministry. Hence the 
Protestant Methodists have no bishops of the sort and 
jurisdiction which exist in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. At several different times about eighty preach- 
ers have seceded from the Methodist Episcopal Church, 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 283 

from dissatisfaction with these tenets and usages of the 
Church ; and all these became members of the Methodist 
Protestant Church. The first Greneral Convention was 
held at Baltimore, in 1830. Eighty-three clerical, and an 
equal number of lay delegates were present from New 
York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
Georgia, Alabama, Ohio, and New Jersey. At that period 
the members of the sect amounted to about five thousand. 
The Convention adopted a Constitution, which embodied 
their peculiar views, and which set forth that Christ was 
the true and only Head of the Church ; that the Scrip- 
tures are the sufficient rule of faith and practice ; and that 
a written constitution establishing a settled form of gov- 
ernment, on an equal plan of representation, was neces- 
sary to secure to Christians their religious rights. 

The General Conference convenes every fourth year, 
and consists of an equal number of preachers and laymen. 
One of each appears for every thousand persons in full 
church membership. The Annual Conferences assemble 
yearly, and these have power to provide the circuits with 
preachers, and procure means to pay their salaries. There 
are also Quarterly Conferences, whose duties are of a less 
responsible nature, being chiefly to see that the discipline 
of the church is properly administered towards preachers 
and members, and also to license persons to exhort and 
preach. While this denomination retain the itinerant 
system in theory, it is not fully carried out in practice, it 
being suspended in cases where the interests of the con- 
gregations may demand a more permanent relation with 
their ministers. Their prominent preachers have been 
the two Eeeses, Dr. Waters of Maryland, J. K. Williams 
of Baltimore and T. H. Stockton. The sect numbers 
about fifty thousand communicants and five hundred 
preachers. 



284 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 



ADYENTISTS, OE MILLERITES. 

This singular body of enthusiasts have been pertina- 
ciously expecting and demanding the end of tlie world, 
and the conflagration of the universe, during some years 
past. Several specific dates have been named by them, 
as the appointed time for the occurrence of this serious 
and disagreeable catastrophe ; and although all their pre- 
dictions have hitherto failed, they still continue from time 
to time to repeat them, and to appoint a new era for the 
realization of their hopes and prophecies. 

The founder of this sect was William Miller, of Low 
Hampton, New York, who commenced to preach in the 
year 1833, and to assert positively and emphatically 
that the end of the world was to occur in 1843. His 
opinions were first published in the Vermont Telegrajjh. 
His most earnest coadjutor was Joshua V. Himes. Other 
journals were gommenced, advocating the same views, 
such as the Advent Herald. The Millerites based their 
conviction on the supposed certainty and clearness of 
their interpretations of the prophecies of the Bible. They 
computed, as they believed without any possibility of error, 
all the statements of the Scriptures respecting the Millen- 
nium ; and their conduct was governed in accordance with 
their honest convictions. At the time appointed they 
were all prepared with ascension robes, and other fixings, 
to meet the expected exigences of the occasion ; but their 
calculations were found to be erroneous. Those who still 
profess to belong to this sect entertain the opinion that 
the end of the world and the Millennial era are very near 
at hand. The views of Mr. Miller himself may be inferred 
from the following '' elegant extract" from one of his pub- 
lished writings : 

" I understand that the judgment day will be a thou- 
sand years long. The righteous are raised and judged in 
the commencement of that day, the wicked in the end of 
that day. I believe that the saints will be raised and 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 285 

judged about tlie year 1843, according to Moses' prophecy, 
Lev. ch. 26; Ezek. eh. 39; Daniel, ch. 2, 7, 8-12; Hos. 
V. 1-3 ; Rev. the whole book ; and many other prophets 
have spoken of these things. Time will soon tell if I am 
right, and soon he that is righteous will be righteous still ; 
and he that is filthy will be filthy still. I do most 
solemnly entreat mankind to make their peace with God, 
and be ready for these things. ' The end of all things is at 
hand.' I do ask my brethren in the gospel ministry to 
consider well what they say before they oppose these 
things. Say not in your hearts, ' My Lord delayeth his 
coming.' Let all do as they would wish they had if it does 
come, and none will say they have not done right if it 
does not come. I believe it will come ; but if it should 
not come, then I will wait and look until it does come." 

MATERIALISTS. 

A short view of the distinguishing articles in this system, 
and a few of the arguments, which are used in defence 
of their sentiments, are delineated in the following sum- 
mary : 

I. That man is no more than what we now see of him ; 
his being commences at the time of his conception, or per- 
haps at an earlier period. The corporeal and mental 
faculties, inhering in the same substance, grow, ripen, and 
decay together ; and whenever the system is dissolved, it 
continues in a state of dissolution, till it shall please that 
almighty Being who called it into existence, to restore it 
to life again.* 

* Dr. Priestley considers man as a being, consisting of what is called 
matter disposed in a certain manner. At death, the parts of this mate- 
rial substance are so disarranged, that the powers of perception and 
thought, which depend upon this arrangement, cease. At the resur- 
rection they will be re-urranged in the same, or in a similar manner as 
before, and consequently the powers of perception and thought will be 
restored. Death, with its concomitant putrefaction and dispersion of 
parts, is only a decomposition. What is decomposed, may be recom- 
poscd by the Being who first composed it : so that, in the most proper 



286 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

For if the mental principle was, in its own nature, im* 
material and immortal, all its peculiar faculties would be 
so too ; whereas, we see that every faculty of the mind, 
without exception, is liable to be impaired, and even to 
become wholly extinct before death. Since therefore all 
the faculties of the mind, separately taken, appear to be 
mortal, the substance, or principle, in which they exist, 
must be pronounced mortal too. Thus we might con- 
clude, that the body was mortal, from observing, that all 
the separate senses and limbs were liable to decay and 
perish. 

This system gives a real value to the doctrine of a resur- 
rection from the dead ; which is peculiar to revelation ; on 
which alone the sacred writers build all our hope of future 
life ; and it explains the uniform language of the scriptures, 
which speak of one day of judgment for all mankind, and 
represent all the rewards of virtue, and all the punishments 
of vice, as taking place at that awful day, and not before. 
In the scriptures, the heathens are represented to be with- 
out hope, and all mankind as perishing at death, if there 
be no resurrection of the dead. 

The Apostle Paul asserts in 1 Cor. xv. 16, that, " If 
the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised ; and if Christ 
be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. 
Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished." 
And again, ver. 32. " If the dead rise not, let us eat and 
drink, for to-morrow we die." In the whole discourse, he 
does not even mention the doctrine of happiness or misery 
without the body. 

If we search the scriptures for passages expressive of 
the state of man at death, we find such declarations, as 
expressly exclude any trace of sense, thought, or enjoy- 
ment. See Psalm vi. 5. Job xiv. 7. 

sense of the word, the same body, which dies, shall rise again ; not with 
every thing adventitious and extraneous, as what we receive by nutri- 
tion, but with the same stamina, or those particles, which really be< 
longed to the germ of the organical body These will be collected and 
revivified at the resurrection. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 287 

II. That there is some fixed law of nature respecting 
the will, as well as the other powers of the mind, and 
every thing else in the constitution of nature ; and conse- 
quently, that it is never determined without some real or 
apparent cause, foreign to itself, i. e. without some motive 
of choice ; or that motives influence us in some definite 
and invariable manner ; so that every volition, or choice, 
is constantly regulated and determined by what precedes 
it. And this constant determination of mind, according 
to the motives presented to it, is what is meant by its ne- 
cessary determination.* This being admitted to be fact, 
there will be a necessary connection between all things 
past, present, and to come, in the way of proper cause 
and effect, as much in the intellectual as in the natural 
world ; so that according to the established laws of nature, 
no event could have been otherwise than it has been, is, or 
is to be, and therefore, all things past, present, and to 
come, are precisely what the Author of nature really in- 
tended them to be, and has made provision for. 

To establish this conclusion, nothing is necessary, but 
that throughout all nature, the same consequences should 
invariably result from the same circumstances. For if 
this is admitted, it will necessarily follow, that at the com- 
mencement of any system, since the several parts of it 

* The term voluntary is not opposed to necessary, but only to invol- 
untary, and nothing can be opposed to necessary, but contingent. For 
a voluntary motion may be regulated by certain rules, as much as a 
mechanical one ; and if it be regulated by any certain rules, or laws, it 
is as necessary as any mechanical motion whatever. 

To suppose the most perfectly voluntary choice to be made without 
regard to the laws of nature, so that with the same inclination, and 
the same views of things presented to us, we might be even voluntarily 
disposed to choose either of two diiferent things at the same moment 
of time, is just as impossible, as that an involuntary or mechanical mo- 
tion should depend upon no certain laws or rule, or that any other 
effect, should exist without an adequate cause. If the mind is as con- 
stantly determined by the influence of motives, as a stone is determined 
to fall to the ground by the influence of gravity, we are constrained 
to conclude, that the cause in the one acts as necessarily as in the 
other. 



288 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

and their respective situations were appointed by tlie Deity, 
the first change would take place according to a certain 
rule, established by himself, the result of which would be 
a new situation ; after which, the same laws continuing, 
another change would succeed, according to the same rules, 
and so on forever ; every new situation invariably leading 
to another, and every event, from the commencement to 
the termination of the system, being strictly connected ; 
so that, unless the fundamental laws of the system were 
changed, it would be impossible that any event should 
have been otherwise than it was. 

In all these cases, the circumstances preceding any 
change, are called the causes of that change ; and since a 
determinate event, or effect, constantly follows certain 
circumstances, or causes, the connection between cause and 
effect is concluded to be invariable and therefore necessary. 

It is universally acknowledged, that there can be no 
efiect without an adequate cause. This is even the foun- 
dation on which the only proper argument for the being 
of a God rests. And the Necessarian asserts, that ifj in 
any given state of mind, with respect both to dispositions 
and motives, two different determinations, or violations, be 
possible, it can be on no other principle, than that one of 
them should come under the description of an effect with- 
out a cause, just as if the beam of a balance might incline 
either way, though loaded with equal weights. And if 
any thing whatever, even a thought in the mind of man, 
could arise without an adequate cause, any thing else, the 
mind itself, or the whole universe, might likewise exist 
without an adequate cause. 

This scheme of philosophical necessity, implies a chain 
of causes and effects, established by infinite wisdom, and 
terminating in the greatest good of the whole universe. 
Evils of all kinds, natural and moral, being admitted, as 
far as they contribute to that end, or are in the nature of 
things inseparable from it.* 

* Dr. Priestley says the doctrine of necessity contains all that the 
heart of man can wish. It leads us to consider ourselves, and every 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 28'3 

Vice is productive not of good, but of evil to us, both 
here and hereafter ; though good may result from it to the 
whole system. And according to the fixed laws of nature, 
our present and future happiness necessarily depend on our 
cultivating good dispositions.* 

Our learned author distinguishes this scheme of philo- 
sophical necessity from the Calvinistic doctrine of predes- 
tination, in the following particulars: 

I. No Necessarian supposes that any of the human race 
will suffer eternally ; but that future punishments will an- 
swer the same purpose as temporal ones are found to do, 
all of which tend to good, and are evidently admitted for 
that purpose. 

Upon the doctrine of necessity also, the most indiffer- 
ent actions of men are equally necessary with the most 
important ; since every volition, like any other effect, 
must have an adequate cause, depending upon the pre- 
vious state of the mind, and the influence to which it is 
exposed. 

II. The Necessarian believes that his own dispositions 
and actions are the necessary and sole means of his present 
and future happiness ; so that, in the most proper sense of 
the words, it depends entirely upon himself, whether he 
be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable. 

III. The Calvinistic system entirely excludes the popu- 
lar notion of free-will, viz., the liberty or power of doing 
what we please, virtuous or vicious, as belonging to every 
person in every situation; which is perfectly consistent 



thing else, as at the uncontrolled disposal of the greatest and best of 
Beings ; that, strictly speaking, nothing does, or can go wrong ; and 
that all retrograde motions in the moral, as well as in the natural world, 
are only apparent, not real. 

♦ By our being liable to punishment for our actions and accountable 
for them, is meant, that it is wise and good in the Supreme Being to 
appoint, that certain sufferings should follow certain actions, provided 
they be voluntary, though necessary ones. A course of voluntary ac- 
tions and sufferings being calculated to promote the greatest ultimate 
good. 
19 



290 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

with the doctrine of philosophical necessity, and indeed 
results from it. 

lY. The Necessarian believes nothing of the posterity 
of Adam's sinning in him, and of their being liable to the 
wrath of God on that account, or the necessity of an inii' 
nite Being making atonement for them by suffering in 
their stead, and thus making the Deity propitious to them. 
He believes nothing of all the actions of any man being 
necessarily sinful; but, on the contrary, thinks that the 
very worst of men are capable of benevolent intentions in 
many things that they do ; and likewise, that very good 
men are capable of falling from virtue, and consequently, 
of sinking into final perdition. Upon the principles of 
the Necessarian, also, all late repentance, and especially 
after long and confirmed habits of vice, is altogether and 
necessarily ineffectual ; there not being sufiicient time left 
to produce a change of disposition and character, which 
can only be done by a change of conduct of proportionably 
long continuance. 

In short the three doctrines of Materialism, Philosophi- 
cal Necessity, and Socinianism, are considered as equally 
parts of one system. The scheme of necessity is the im- 
mediate result of the materiality of man ; for mechanism 
is the undoubted consequence of materialism. And that 
man is wholly material, is eminently subservient to the 
proper, or mere humanity of Christ. For if no man has 
a soul distinct from his body, Christ, who in all other re- 
spects, appeared as a man, could not have a soul which 
had existed before his body. And the whole doctrine of 
the pre-existence of souls, of which the opinion of the pre- 
existence of Christ is a branch, will be effectually over- 
turned. 

TEACTARIANB, OR PUSEYITES. 

This name has been given by their opponents to a school 
of theologians, members of the established Episcopal 
church in England, whose tenets have been set forth in a 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 291 

series of publications, known as the Oxford tracts, which 
began to appear about the year 1833-4. From one of the 
most able and indefatigable of the champions of the party, 
the Rev. Dr. Pusej, the advocates of these tenets have 
been also called Puseyites. 

The main points, insisted on by them, according to 
their own accounts, are the following : 

1. The doctrine of Apostolic succession as a rule of 
practice ; that is, First, That the participation of the Body 
and Blood of Christ is essential to the maintenance of 
Christian life and hope in each individual. Second, That 
it is conveyed to individual Christians, only by the hands 
of the successors of the Apostles and their delegates. 
Third, That the successors of the Apostles are those who 
are descended in a direct line from them, by the imposi- 
tion of hands ; and that the delegates of these are the re- 
spective presbyters whom each has commissioned. 

II. That it is sinful, voluntarily to allow the interfer- 
ence of persons or bodies not members of the church in 
matters spiritual. 

III. That it is desirable to make the church more 
popular, as far as is consistent with the maintenance of its 
Apostolical character. 

The following memorandum, drawn up by Mr. Newman, 
one of the most distinguished members of the school, ex- 
plains more fully the original intention and peculiar doc- 
trines of the Tractarians : 

Considering, 1. That the only way of salvation is the 
partaking of the Body and Blood of our sacrificed Re- 
deemer. 

2. That the means, expressly authorized by him for 
that purpose, is the Holy Sacrament of his Supper. 

3. That the security, by him no less expressly author- 
ized, for the continuance and due application of that 
Sacrament, is, the Apostolical commission of the Bishops, 
and, under them, the Presbyters of the church. 

4. That under the present circumstances of the Church 
of England, there is peculiar danger of these matters 



292 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

being slighted and practically disavowed, and of numbers 
of Christians being left or tempted to precarious and unau- 
thorized ways of communion, which must terminate often 
in virtual apostasy. 

We desire to pledge ourselves, one to another, reserv- 
ing our canonical obedience, as follows : 

1. To be on the watch for all opportunities of inculca- 
ting, on all committed to our charge, a due sense of the 
inestimable privilege of communion with our Lord, through 
the successors of the Apostles ; and of leading them to the 
resolution to transmit it, by his blessing, unimpaired to 
their children. 

2. To provide and circulate books and tracts, which 
may tend to familiarize the imaginations of men to the 
ideal of an Apostolical commission, to represent to them 
the feelings and principles resulting from that doctrine, in 
the purest and earliest churches, and especially to point 
out its fruits, as exemplified in the practice of the primi- 
tive Christians ; their communion with each other, how- 
ever widely separated, and their resolute sufferings for the 
truth's sake. 

3. To do what lies in us towards reviving among 
Churchmen, the practice of daily common prayer, and 
more frequent participation of the Lord's Supper. And 
whereas there seems great danger, at present, of attempts 
at unauthorized and inconsiderate innovation, as in other 
matters, so especially in the service of our church, we 
pledge ourselves, 

4. To resist any attempt that may be made, to alter 
the liturgy on insufficient authority ; i. e. without the exer- 
cise of the free and deliberate judgment of the church on 
the alterations proposed : 

5. It will also be one of our objects to place, within 
the reach of all men, sound and true accounts of those 
points in our discipline and worship, which may appear, 
from time to time, most likely to be misunderstood or un- 
dervalued, and to suggest such measures, as may promise 
to be most successful in preserving them. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 293 

In regard to the charge of Romanism, so frequently 
brouorht aorainst the Tractarians, we find in the first vol- 
ume of the tracts the following statement of "irreconcila- 
ble difierences" with Rome, by one of them : 

Be assured of this — no party will be more opposed to 
our doctrine, if it ever prospers and makes a noise, than 
the Roman party. This has been proved before now. 
In the seventeenth century, the theology of the divines of 
the English Church was substantially the same as ours is ; 
and it experienced the fell hostility of the Papacy. It 
was the true Via Media : Rome sought to block up that 
way, as fiercely as the puritans. History tells us this. In 
a few words I will state some of my irreconcilable difier- 
ences with Rome, as she is ; and in stating her errors, 
I will closely follow the order observed by Bishop Hall, 
in his treatise on The Old Religion, whose Protestantism 
is unquestionable. 

I consider that it is unscriptural to say, with the 
Church of Rome, that we are justified by inherent right- 
eousness. 

That it is unscriptural to say that '' the good works 
of a man justified do truly merit eternal life." 

That the doctrine of transubstantiation, as not being 
revealed, but a theory of man's devising, is profane and 
impious. 

That the denial of the cup to the laity, is a bold and 
unwarranted encroachment on their privileges as Christ's 
people. 

That the sacrifice of masses, as it has been practised 
in the Roman Church, is without foundation in Scripture 
or antiquity, and therefore blasphemous and dangerous. 

That the honor paid to images is very full of peril in 
the case of the uneducated, that is, of the great part of 
Christians. 

That indulgences, as in use, are a gross and monstrous 
invention of later times. 

That the received doctrine of purgatory is at variance 



294 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

with Scripture, cruel to the better sort of Christians, and 
administering deceitful comfort to the irreligious. 

That the practice of celebrating Divine service in an 
unknown tongue, is a great corruption. 

That forced confession is an unauthorized and danger- 
ous practice. 

That the direct invocation of the saints is a dangerous 
practice, as tending to give, often actually giving, to crea- 
tures, the honor and reliance due to the Creator alone. 

That there are seven sacraments. 

That the Roman doctrine of Tradition is unscriptural. 

That the claim of the Pope, to be universal Bishop, 
is against Scripture and antiquity. 

I might add other points, in which also, I protest 
against the church of Rome, but I think it enough to 
make my confession in Hall's order, and so leave it. 

And Mr. Newman himself says : " Whether we be right 
or wrong, our theory of religion has a meaning, and that 
really distinct from Romanism. They maintain that faith 
depends upon the Church ; we that the Church is built 
upon the faith. By Church Catholic we mean the Church 
Universal ; they, those branches of it which are in com- 
munion with Rome. Again, they understand by the faith, 
whatever the Church at any time declares to be faith ; we, 
what it has actually so declared from the beginning. 
Both they and we anathematise those who deny the faith ; 
but they extend the condemnation to all who question any 
decree of the Roman church ; we apply it to those only 
who deny any article of the original Apostolical creed." 

Tractarians seem to insist that no vital Christianity can 
exist out of the pale of the Episcopal Church. " A church,'* 
says the British Critic, their principal organ in Eng- 
land, " is such only by virtue of that from which it obtains 
its unity — and it obtains its unity only from that in which it 
centres, viz., the Bishop. And therefore, all its teaching 
must be through the medium of the Episcopate, as is beau- 
tifully expressed in the act of the synod of Bethlehem, 



HISTORY OP ALL RELIGIONS. 295 

which the Eastern Church transmitted to the nonjuring 
Bishops. 

Therefore we declare that this hath ever been the 
doctrine of the Eastern Church — that the Episcopal dig- 
nity is so necessary in the Church, that without a Bishop 
there cannot exist any Church, nor any Christian man ; 
no, not so much as in name. For he, as successor of the 
Apostles, having received the grace, given to the Apostle 
himself of the Lord, to bind and to loose, by imposition 
of hands and the invocation of the Holy Ghost — by con- 
tinuous succession from one to another, is a living image of 
God upon earth — and by the fullest communication of 
the virtue of that Spirit who works in all ordinances, is the 
source of and fountain, as it were, of all those mysteries 
of the Catholic Church, through which we obtain salva- 
tion. And we hold the necessity of a Bishop to be as 
great in the Church as the breath of life is in man, or as 
the sun is in the system of creation. Whence, also, some 
have elegantly said, in praise of Episcopal dignity, that 
as God himself is in the heavenly Church the first born, 
and as the sun in the world, so is every Bishop in the 
Diocesan or particular church, inasmuch as it is through 
him that the flock is lightened and warmed, and made into 
a Temple of God. But that the great mystery and dignity 
of the Episcopate has been continued, by succession from 
one Bishop to another, to our time, is clear. For the 
Lord promised to be with us, even unto the end of the 
world ; and although he be indeed with us, also, by other 
modes of grace and divine benefit, yet does he, in a more 
especial manner, through the Episcopate, as the prime 
source of all holy ministrations, make us his own, abide 
with us and render himself one with us, and us with him, 
through the holy mysteries of which the Bishop is the 
chief minister and prime worker, through the Spirit. 

Tractarianism has been often called a '' sacramental re- 
ligion," because of the extreme views of its supporters in 
regard to the efficacy of baptism and the administration of 
the Lord's Supper. It must be confessed, however, that 



296 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

in defence of their views they quote tlie earliest and most 
revered authorities, and adduce numerous strong passages 
from the writings of Cranmer and Ridley, the composers 
of those Thirty-nine Articles, which may be said to lie at 
the foundation of the Protestant Episcopal church. Thus 
Ridley says : " As the body is nourished by the bread and 
wine, at the Communion, and the soul by grace and Spirit, 
with the body of Christ ; even so, in baptism, the body is 
washed with the visible water, and the soul cleansed from 
all filth by the invisible Holy Ghost." 

And Cranmer, the martyr, is quoted in behalf of the 
Tractarian view regarding baptism as follows: "And 
when you say, that in baptism we receive the Spirit of 
Christ, and in the sacrament of his body, we receive his 
very flesh and blood, this your saying is no small deroga- 
tion to baptism ; wherein we receive, not only the Spirit 
of Christ but also Christ himself, whole body and soul, 
manhood and Godhead, unto everlasting life. For St. 
Paul saith, as many as be baptized in Christ, put Christ 
upon them. Nevertheless, this is done in divers respects ; 
for in baptism, it is done in respect of regeneration, and 
in the Holy Communion, in respect of nourishment and 
sustentation. " 

" Thus it is," says Bishop Doane of New Jersey, "that 
the bishops, doctors, martyrs of the Reformation, teach a 
'religion of sacraments.' Such and only such, is the 
' sacramental religion' which the men of Oxford preach. 
How can they do other, when it is written, in the words 
of Jesus Christ himself, ' Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, 
except a man be born of water and of the Spirit — he can- 
not enter the kingdom of God ;' and again, ' He that 
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, 
and I in him !' When it is written, in the words of St. 
Paul, * According to his mercy he saved us, by the wash- 
ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ;* 
and again, ' The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not 
the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which 
we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ V 



HISTORY OF ALL EELIGIONS. 297 

"Wlien it is written in the words of St. Peter, * Kepent and 
be baptized every one of you, in tbe name of Jesus Christ, 
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of 
the Holy Ghost ;' and again, ' The figure whereunto even 
baptism doth now save us.' But let the whole subject be 
summed up in the words of Mr. Simeon : ' St. Peter says, 
^' Repent and be baptized every one of you, for the remis- 
sion of sins," and in another place, "' Baptism doth now 
save us.' And speaking elsewhere of baptized persons, 
who were unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, he says, " He hath forgotten that he was purged 
from his old sins." Does not this very strongly counte- 
nance the idea which our Reformers entertain, that the 
remission of our sins, and the regeneration of our souls, is 
attendant on the baptismal rite.' " 

''According to our church," says Dr. Pusey, " we are, 
by baptism, brought into a state of salvation or justifica- 
tion, (for the words are thus far equivalent,) a state into 
which we were brought by God's free mercy alone, with- 
out works, but in which, having been placed, we are to 
' work out our own salvation with fear and trembling,' 
through the indwelling Spirit of ' God, working in us, to 
will and to do of his good pleasure.' " 

And the following passage from the lectures of Dr. 
Pusey's celebrated co-laborer, the Rev. Mr. Newman, may 
be regarded as sufficient in imparting an idea of the views 
of the Tractarians upon the subject of justification : 

"In the foregoing lectures, a view has been taken, sub- 
stantially the same as this, but approaching more nearly 
in language to the Calvinist ; namely, that Christ indwell- 
ing is our righteousness ; only what is with them a matter 
of words, I would wish to use in a real sense, as express- 
ing a sacred mystery ; and therefore I have spoken of it in 
the language of Scripture, as ' the indwelling of Christ 
through the Spirit.' Stronger language cannot be de- 
sired, than that which the Calvinists use on the subject ; 
so much so, that it may well be believed that many who 
use it, as the great Hooker himself, at the time he wrote 



298 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

his Treatise, meant what they say. For instance, the 
words of a celebrated passage which occurs in it, taken 
literally, do most entirely express the doctrine on the sub- 
ject, which seems to me the scriptural and catholic view : 
' Christ hath merited righteousness for as many as are 
found in him. In him God findeth us, if we be faithful ; 
for by faith we are incorporated into Christ. Then, al- 
though in ourselves we be altogether sinful and unright- 
eous ; yet even the man which is impious in himself, full 
of iniquity, full of sin, him being found in Christ through 
faith, and having his sin remitted through repentance, him 
God beholdeth with a gracious eye, putteth away his sin by 
not imputing it, taketh quite away the punishment due there- 
to by pardoning it, and accepteth him in Jesus Christ, as 
perfectly righteous, as if he had fulfilled all that was com- 
manded him in the Law ; shall I say more perfectly right- 
eous than if himself had fulfilled the whole law ? I must 
take heed Avhat I say ; but the Apostle saith, God made 
Him which knew no sin, to be sin for us ; that we might 
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Such we are 
in the sight of God the Father, as is the very Son of God 
Himself. Let it be counted folly, or phrensy, or fury, or 
whatsoever, it is our comfort and our wisdom ; we care 
for no knowledge in the world but this, that man hath 
sinned, and God hath suffered ; that God hath made Him- 
self the sin of man, and that men are made the righteous- 
ness of God.' " 

"Justification, then," says Mr. Newman, in another 
place, '' viewed relatively to the past, is forgiveness of sin, 
for nothing more can it be ; but, considered as to the pre- 
sent and future, it is more ; it is renewal, wrought in us 
by the Spirit of Him, who, withal by his death and passion, 
washes away its still adhering imperfections, as well as 
blots out what is past. And faith is said to justify in two 
principal ways : — first, as continually pleading before God ; 
and secondly, as being the first recipient of the Spirit, the 
root, and therefore, the earnest and anticipation, of perfect 
obedience." 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 299 

Upon the subject of transubstantiation, Dr. Pusej says : 
" We believe the doctrine of our Church to be, that in the 
Communion there is a true, real, actual, though spiritual, 
(or rather the more real, because spiritual,) communica- 
tion of the Body and Blood of Christ to the believer 
through the Holy Elements ; that there is a true, real, 
spiritual Presence of Christ at the Holy Supper ; more 
real than if we could, with Thomas, feel Him with our 
hands, or thrust our hands into His side ; that this is be- 
stowed upon faith, and received by faith, as is every other 
spiritual gift, but that our faith is but a receiver of God's 
real, mysterious, precious gift; that faith opens our eyes 
to see what is really there, and our hearts to receive it ; 
but that it is there, independently of our faith. And this 
Beal, Spiritual Presence it is, which makes it so awful a 
thing to approach unworthily." 

In defence of these views, the authority of Cranmer, 
the martyr, is quoted who says : " Christ saith of the 
Bread, 'This is My Body;' and of the Cup He saith, 
' This is My Blood.' Wherefore we ought to believe that 
in the Sacrament we receive truly the Body and Blood of 
Christ. For God is almighty, (as ye heard in the Creed.) 
He is able, therefore, to do all things, what He will. 
And, as St. Paul writeth. He called those things which be 
not as if they were. Wherefore, when Christ taketh 
Bread, and saith, 'Take, eat, this is My Body,' we .ought 
not to doubt bi^t we eat His very Body. And when He 
taketh the Cup, and saith, ' Take, drink, this is My Blood,' 
we ought to think assuredly that we drink His very 
Blood. And this we must believe, if we will be counted 
Christian men. 

" And whereas, in this perilous time, certain deceitful 
persons be found, in many places, who, of very froward- 
ness, will not grant that there is the Body and Blood of 
Christ, but deny the same, for none other cause but that 
they cannot compass, by man's blind reason, how this 
thing should be brought to pass ; ye, good children, shall 
with all diligence beware of such persons, that ye suffer 



300 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

not yourselves to be deceived by them. For such men 
surely are not true Christians, neither as yet have they 
learned the first article of the Creed, which teacheth that 
God is almighty, which ye, good children, have already 
perfectly learned. Wherefore, eschew such erroneous 
opinions, and believe the words of our Lord Jesus, that 
you eat and drink His very Body and Blood, although 
man's reason cannot comprehend how and after what man- 
ner the same is there present. For the wisdom of reason 
must be subdued to the obedience of Christ, as the Apostle 
Paul teacheth." 

The Tractarians are charged with inculcating the ne- 
cessity of dispensing religious truth with caution, not 
throwing it promiscuously before minds ill-suited to re- 
ceive it. What Oxford teaches may be presented, in a few 
words, from Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Lord Chancellor : 

"■ In brief, then, my Lord, the meaning of our Church, 
( as we conceive,) in these Articles, is, that the Scripture 
is the sole authoritative source of the Faith, i. e. of 
Hhings to be believed in order to salvation ;' the Church 
is the medium, through which that knowledge is conveyed 
to individuals ; she, under her responsibility to God, and 
in subjection to His Scripture, and with the guidance of 
His Spirit, testifies to her children, what truths are neces- 
sary to be believed in order to salvation; expounds Scrip- 
ture to them ; determines, when controversies arise ; and 
this, not in the character of a judge, but as a witness, to 
what she herself received." 

And in this view of the meaning of the Church, we 
are further confirmed by the Canon of the Convocation of 
1571, the same Convocation which enforced subscription 
to the Articles. 

" The preachers shall in the first place be careful 
never to teach any thing from the pulpit, to be religiously 
held and believed by the people, but what is agreeable to 
the doctrine of the Old or New Testament, and collected 
out of that very Doctrine by the Catholic Fathers and an- 
cient Bishops. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 301 

" So have we ever wished to teach, ^ what is agreeable 
to the Doctrine of the Old or New Testament :' and, as 
the test of its being thus agreeable, we would take, not 
our own private and individual judgments, but that of the 
Universal Church, as attested bj the Catholic Fathers 
and Ancient Bishops. " 

Nor do we, in this, nor did they, approximate to Ro- 
manism : but rather they herein took the strongest and the 
only unassailable position against it. Rome and ourselves 
have alike appealed to the authority of ^'the Church;" 
but, in the mouth of a Romanist, the Church means so 
much of the Church as is in communion with herself, in 
other words, it means herself: with us, it means the Uni- 
versal Church, to which Rome, as a particular Church, is 
subject, and ought to yield obedience. With Rome, it 
matters not whether the decision be of the Apostolic times, 
or of yesterday ; whether against the teachers of the early 
Church, or with it ; whether the whole Church universal 
throughout the world agree in it, or only a section, which 
holds communion with herself: she, as well as Calvin, 
makes much of the authority of the Fathers, when she 
thinks that they make for her ; but she, equally with the 
founder of the Ultra-Protestants, sets at naught their au- 
thority, so soon as they tell against her : she unscrupu- 
lously sets aside the judgment of all the Ancient Doctors 
of the Church, unhesitatingly dismisses the necessity of 
agreement even of the whole Church at this day, and 
proudly taking to herself the exclusive title of Catholic, 
sits alone, a Queen in the midst of the earth, and dis- 
penses her decrees from herself. No, my lord ! they ill 
understand the character of Rome, or their own strength, 
who think that she would really commit herself, as Cran- 
mer did, to Christian Antiquity, or who would not gladly 
bring her to that test ! What need has she of Antiquity 
who is herself infallible, except to allure mankind to be- 
lieve her so ? 

So much for Tractarianism by a Tractariau 



302 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 



REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS, OR COVENANTERS; 

This denomination of Christians take their name from 
the fact that "Covenanting" has been a prominent event 
and characteristic of their past history. They derive their 
origin from the Reformed Church of Scotland ; their mem- 
bers having united with others in signing the " National 
Covenant of Scotland," and subsequently the " Solemn 
League and Covenant," which Protestants in England, 
Scotland, and Ireland framed and signed in 1643, which 
exerted an important influence in overturning the throne 
of the Stuarts, and in bringing about the execution of 
Charles I. 

During the eighteenth century a few members of this 
sect emigrated from time to time from Scotland to this 
country. At length in 1752, Rev, Mr. Cuthbertson was 
sent by the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland to visit 
these scattered members, and to ascertain their religious 
and social condition. He traveled and preached through- 
out the colonies with great zeal during twenty years ^ and 
in 1774, Messrs. Linn and Dobbin were sent to assist him. 
These three clergymen, and their ruling elders, organized 
themselves into a regular presbytery. With the progress 
of time the members of the sect increased, and additional 
ministers were sent over to supply their spiritual wants. 
In 1799 a constitution was adopted, and various measures 
were taken to give organization and solidity to the denomi- 
nation. Amongst other things, they took hold of the sub- 
ject of slavery at an early period, and in 1800 ordained 
that no person having any connection whatever with that 
"peculiar institution," should be allowed to have commu- 
nion or membership with them, under any circumstances. 

In May, 1809, at a meeting of the Presbytery which 
was held in Philadelphia, it was resolved to establish a 
Synod, in consequence of the increase of members and 
preachers ; and the Rev. William Gibson, being the senior 
minister, officiated in organizing and recognizing the 
" Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Ame- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 803 

rica." Several years previous to this step, the Presbytery 
had issued a document termed the " Testimony of the 
Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States," 
which set forth their doctrines and opinions at length. 

The most remarkable peculiarity of this denomination 
is that they refuse to support the Constitution and Grovern- 
ment of the United States, and condemn them as opposed to 
religion, as impious and detestable. They contend that no 
Christian ought to countenance any government which 
does not recognize the supreme authority of Jesus Christ, 
and acknowledge allegiance to him. They hold that the 
Constitution of the United States, and the Constitutions 
of the several States, ought directly and distinctly to 
introduce this topic, and to admit this principle — else in 
default thereof, they do not deserve the support or appro- 
val of Christians. To our blind and dumb vision this 
seems a most absurd doctrine, for this reason : Men should 
consider what the intention of such a thing as a political 
constitution is. If it be to proclaim religious truth, it is 
proper that due prominence should be given to that, and 
to the claims of Christianity and its founder. If its in- 
tention, however, be to assert and define the various 
political rights, duties, relations, and obligations of men, 
it has nothing whatever to do with religious principles. 
This sect might just as reasonably require that the decla- 
ration which the National Convention of Dentists annually 
puts forth, should contain a recognition of the truths of 
Christianity, and other religious dogmas, in order to 
secure the approval of Christians, as they have to require 
the same thing in a political document, issued by an 
assemblage of politicians, convened for a purely secular 
and political purpose. 

The Covenanters, or Reformed Presbyterians, wholly 
condemn the Constitution and Government of the United 
States, on a variety Qf grounds. They begin by laying 
down a principle which is true ; but they deduce from it 
(what we regard as) unjustifiable conclusions. That prin- 
ciple is that, when immorality and impiety are mad© 



304 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

essential to any political system, the whole system should 
be unconditionally condemned. Yet this premise involves 
an error ; because, according to it, the whole Jewish sys- 
tem of doctrine and belief, as contained in the Old Testa- 
ment, should be condemned and utterly repudiated, be- 
cause that system contained some essential features which 
were wrong and censurable, and which Christ himself 
subsequently abrogated. 

Reformed Presbyterians proceed to denounce the Fed- 
eral Constitution of the United States on the following 
grounds : They condemn the preamble, because it does 
not recognize the glory of God as the great end in the 
establishment of civil governments ; and because it does 
not propose to secure alike liberty to all the inhabitants 
of the land. They condemn the first article, because it 
makes a distinction between persons called "free" and 
"all other persons;" because, as they think, it legalizes 
the slave trade ; because, among the qualifications re- 
quired for public officers, no notice is taken of religious 
merits, of the piety and moral excellence of the appli- 
cants. They object to the second article, because the 
mode prescribed for inducting persons into office is not 
adapted to give glory to God, inasmuch as they swear or 
affirm, without any allusion to God's law and authority. 
They also condemn the pardoning power, as applied to 
murderers, allowed by this article ; and the fourth article 
they denounce, as calculated to make them partakers of 
other men's sins, or at least encouraging and favoring 
them. They also object to restoring fugitive servants or 
slaves, and to making any human law the '^supreme" law 
of the land. This they regard as impious in the extreme, 
an offence for which there is and can be no excuse. 

These are the chief grounds on which the Reformed 
Presbyterians refuse to acknowledge the authority of the 
Federal Constitution, and even of the State Governments. 
They hold no political offices on this account, and the 
emotion of patriotism* seems to be extinct within them. 
The "stars and stripes" and the most glorious reminis- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 305 

cences of Kevolutionary days excite no enthusiasm in 
their breasts. Another prominent peculiarity of this de- 
nomination is, that in public worship they sing nothing 
but David's Psalms, translated into English. They regard 
it as impious and idolatrous to sing any other kind of 
hymns ; and they condemn not only all instrumental 
music, such as organs and violins, but even choirs, as 
being abominable in the eyes of God and disgusting to 
Him. "We never could account for the inconsistency 
which this opinion appears to involve, because David, in 
the very Psalms which these people insist so much on 
singing, expressly says, ''Praise Him (God) with stringed 
instruments and organs,'' (Ps. cl. 4.) And yet there is 
not a " Reformed Presbyterian" Church in the United 
States from which, if a fiddle or organ were introduced 
into it, the congregation would not rush out in holy horror 
and detestation. Some of the peculiarities of this deno- 
mination led to a great split among them in 1830. Rev. 
Dr. Wylie and a few other prominent clergymen endea- 
vored to effect a change in the existing opinions of the 
members and the preachers, especially with reference to 
the prevalent views of the government and Constitution 
of the United States. Their efforts were unavailing, 
and the result was that the innovators were suspended 
from the exercise of the ministry. Six preachers and 
five ruling elders, who were thus discipKned, then 
proceeded to form themselves into a new sect and a 
new presbytery. The seceding ministers were Drs. 
Wylie and McMaster, and Rev. Messrs. McLeod, 
Wilson, Stuart, and J. McMaster. They retained the 
title of Reformed Presbyterians, but entered into a 
separate organization. The several points on which 
they differ from those from whom they seceded are as 
follows: — They do not condemn the Constitution and 
Government of the United States, and they permit their 
members to take office, and to maintain all such relations 
to the civil society and institutions of the United States 
as are not immoral. They believe that in this government 
20 



806 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

there is no apostasy from any religious covenant "wliicli 
had formerly been entered into ; that the defects of the 
laws are omissions not essential to the operations of civil 
governments ; that a constitutional way is provided by 
which all defects in the laws may be remedied ; and that 
if Christians believe such defects to exist, it is their duty 
to mix in politics and employ all their influence in effect- 
ing a change in the objectionable features. In regard to 
Psalmody, or singing in public worship, this denomination, 
while they retain the use of David's Psalms, are not as 
rigid in their views about them, nor are they as strict as 
the old branch in their opinions respecting the terms of 
communion ; and, while in general they practice " close 
communion," admitting none but their own members to 
the Lord's table with them, they entertain a more liberal 
feeling toward other Christians. 

Reformed Presbyterians, in this country, have about 
forty ministers, fifty congregations, and eight thousand 
communicants. They have a theological seminary at 
Cincinnati, and several religious and theological maga- 
zines, such as the '' Reformed Presbyterian," and the 
"Covenanter." Of all the various branches of the great 
Presbyterian family, this denomination may be regarded 
as one of the most conservative, the most resolutely hos- 
tile to all change, and to any departure from the " old 
paths." 

CHURCH OF GOD, OR WINEBRENNERIANS. 

This sect arose about the year 1825 in Dauphin county, 
Pennsylvania, through the agency of Rev. John Wine- 
brenner, a German Reformed preacher, who, in 1829, 
settled in Harrisburg as pastor of a church of that deno- 
mination. At that period those religious excitements 
which are termed "revivals" were unknown among the 
German churches in this country ; but the preaching of 
Mr. Winebrenner was calculated to introduce, this novelty 
among the several congregations in town and country to 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 307 

whom lie ministered. The consequence of this state of 
affairs was, that divisions and violent controversies arose 
in regard to the propriety of these new measures ; and, 
ultimately, Mr. W. and his friends seceded from the Re- 
formed Church, and formed a denomination of their own. 
These met together in October, 1830, at Harrisburg, and 
formed an association, consisting of six preachers and 
S'^me elders, and this convention or assembly they called 
the first '' Eldership." These persons set forth their be- 
lief that there is but one true Christian church; that 
Christians ought not to be designated by any sectarian or 
human name ; that they should have no creed or discipline 
but the Bible ; and that they should not be governed by 
any extrinsic foreign jurisdiction. John Winebrenner w^as 
elected the first president, or "speaker," as he was termed, 
of this gathering. Female members of the society were 
allowed to vote in the choice of church officers ; and "feet 
washing" was declared to be an observance which was of 
perpetual obligation on all Christians until the end of 
time, according to the declaration of Christ, John xiii. 14, 
15 : " If I, then, your lord and master, have washed your 
feet, ye ought also to wash one another's feet ; for I have 
given you an example, that ye should do as I have done 
to you." They declared, also, that the Lord's Supper 
should always be administered in a sitting posture, and 
after nightfall ; because such was the posture, and that the 
time, which attended the first observance of this sacrament 
by Christ and the apostles. 

Among the other peculiarities of this new sect was the 
use of fast days, experience meetings, anxious meetings, 
protracted meetings, and camp meetings. They condemn 
intemperance and the manufacture of ardent spirits, sla- 
very, wars, and national conflicts. They practice baptism 
by immersion, and believe in the trinity, in a vicarious 
atonement, in man's free moral agency and his ability to 
repent, and that the doctrine of election and reprobation 
has no foundation or warrant in the Bible. Thoy hold to 
the idea of Christ's personal appearance to jud^e tha 



308 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

TTorld ; and that the final resurrection of the good will 
take place at the commencement of the millennium, and 
that of the wicked at the end of that period. 

They call their synods "Elderships," and of these there 
are four in the United States : the East Pennsylvania, the 
West Pennsylvania, the Ohio, and the Indiana Elderships. 
These "Elderships" meet once a year, and the "General 
Eldership" assembles once in three years. A newspaper 
termed The Church Advocate is their organ, and is pub- 
lished at Harrisburg ; its circulation is limited. This sect 
may now have about fifty preachers, a hundred congre- 
gations, and eight thousand members. 

GERMAN SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. 

This denomination of Christians is one of the most re- 
markable which has ever existed in the United States ; 
and though they are not numerous, or important in point 
of prominence and influence, their peculiarities are such 
as to render them superior to many other sects in interest. 
Their remoter origin is to be traced to the year 1694, when 
a religious revival took place in Saxony, Germany, in con- 
sequence of the zealous preaching of Spener, a distin- 
guished theologian and ecclesiastic of that period. Those 
who sympathized with Spener's views were persecuted by 
the members and dignitaries of the established religion, 
and the result was that about the year 1719 some of them 
emigrated to this country for the purpose of enjoying the 
blessings of religious freedom. Their leader was named 
Alexander Mack, and they settled at Mill Creek, in Penn- 
sylvania. They had assumed the title of "Eirst Day 
German Baptists," and among their number was one 
Conrad Peysel, who was destined afterward to act a promi- 
nent part in the history of the association. 

Peysel conceived the idea that there was no authority 
in the Scriptures for the change of the Sabbath from the 
seventh to the first day of the week ; and after some con- 
troversy with the other members of the denomination, he 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 309 

•withdrew and retired to a solitary cell on tlie banks of a 
stream of water in the vicinity, which had once been occu- 
pied by a hermit named Elimelich. This occurred in 
1724 ; and as soon as the place of his retreat became 
known, some of the members of the society at Mill Creek, 
who had concurred with Peysel in his opinions in reference 
to the Sabbath, withdrew from the old community and 
erected huts near his cell, in order to enjoy his society and 
the benefits of his religious instructions. 

In the course of several years a considerable village 
sprang up around the habitation of the prayerful hermit ; 
and in 1732 they resolved to change their solitary life 
into a monastic one, by the erection of large buildings in 
which they could more completely live a life of seclusion 
devoted to pious exercises. They enclosed a spot of 
ground to which they gave the title of "Euphrata," and 
commenced to erect a monastery. They adopted a white 
habit, resembling that of the Capuchins, consisting of a 
long gown and cowl, thrown over other garments, made 
of woolen web in winter and of linen in summer. A num- 
ber of female members were admitted into the association 
who wore a similar garb, who also assumed monastic 
names, and employed their time, in a great measure, in 
monastic exercises. 

In the year 1740 there were thirty-six male brethren 
and thirty-five sisters in the cloisters, and at one time the 
members of the society who resided in the neighborhood 
were three hundred. The latter were married people, 
whereas those who lived in the cloister were single. No 
monastic vows were required, and each one was at liberty 
to withdraw at any time from the association ; but it is 
said that during the lapse of a hundred years not more 
than five or six of those who had once commenced the 
monastic life in the cloister withdrew from it and married. 
They maintained a community of goods, and the society 
was supported by the profits of the farm and the mills 
which they owned, and which were carried on by their own 
members. 



310 HISTOUY OF ALL KELIGIONS. 

The doctrinal belief of this sect was as follows : They 
entertained the opinion that celibacy was a higher and 
purer kind of life than marriage, and that the former ena- 
bled those who practiced it to attain a greater degree of 
holiness than the latter. In support of this opinion they 
quoted the express words of Paul : *' He that is unmarried 
careth for the things that belong to the Lord — how he may 
please the Lord ; but he that is married careth for the 
things of the world — how he may please his wife. The 
unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that 
she may be holy both in body and in spirit ; but she that 
is married careth for the things of the world — how she 
may please her husband. I say, therefore, to the unmar- 
ried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as 
L" According to these teachings of the apostle, the fol- 
lowers of Peysel, who occupied the monastery at Euphrata, 
lived a life of rigid celibacy; and their preachers con- 
tinually dwelt in their exhortations upon the superior 
merit of that state, and exhorted one another to con- 
stancy in it. As soon, however, as any one expressed ^a 
desire to marry, it was allowed them, though they were 
compelled to withdraw from the monastery, and reside in 
the adjoining village. 

In regard to other points of their religious belief, this 
sect hold to the doctrine of the Trinity and to that of 
"free grace," asserting that Christ died to redeem all men, 
and that men possessed a freedom of the will which ena- 
bled them at any time to repent and obey the demands of 
the gospel. They practiced baptism by immersion, and 
celebrated the Lord's Supper at night, washing each other's 
feet, according to the injunction of Christ. (John xiii. 
14, 15.) They considered it essential to adhere to the 
time and manner, and to all the details which marked the 
first institution of this sacrament by Christ. The Sabbath 
they carefully observed on Saturday instead of the first 
day of the week ; and in defence of this usage they urged 
many plausible arguments against the unauthorized change 
of the day from that which was originally appointed by 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 311 

the author of the Sabbath. They deny the eternity of 
the future punishment of the wicked. 

Such were the leading features of this remarkable sect. 
As might be supposed, their peculiarities have subjected 
them to a vast amount of misrepresentation ; but the truth 
is, that a more exemplary and excellent association of 
persons has never existed in this country. Because they 
were few and feeble, and because their doctrine respecting 
Sunday militated against the opinions of those in greater 
power and place, they have been persecuted by other reli- 
gious sects, which, under the guise of the law of the land, 
have endeavored to ruin them for not observing the preva- 
lent Sunday as a Sabbath. Attempts have also been made 
to cheat them out of their property. For a long time 
they did not "resist evil," until at length, when their 
wrongs became too outrageous and infamous to be longer 
borne, they appealed to the Legislature of the State. The 
Legislature refused them any relief. Afterward they ap- 
pealed to the Supreme Court, which eventually rendered 
a decision which shielded them in a great measure from 
further imposition and outrage. At the present time we 
believe that the monastery at Euphrata is not used for its 
original purpose ; but many descendants of the earlier 
members of the Seventh Day Baptist Church still survive 
in the village, thus keeping alive the memory of the ob- 
scure and unobtrusive virtues of one of the most praise- 
worthy, though singular, of modern religious sects. 

THE PROGRESSIVE FRIENDS. 

The religious community who are known by the title of 
"Progressive Friends," derive their origin chiefly from 
the Quakers. That society had been for some years dis- 
turbed by disputes and dilFerences in regard to some im- 
portant points of doctrine. Many of its members believed 
that a tone of domination and authority had arisen in the 
sect, which was at variance with the spirit of primitive 
Quakerism, which aimed at the suppression of free thought, 



812 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

and resisted all attempts at progress or development. 
The result of this state of things was that, in New York, 
Ohio, and Michigan, various secessions took place from 
the Quaker community, and the persons who thus with- 
drew formed themselves into a new association, under the 
title of Congregational Eriends. 

In May, 1853, a similar movement took place in Penn- 
sylvania, which was produced by similar causes. On the 
22d of that month an assemblage was held at Old Ken- 
nett, in Chester county, composed of those members of 
the Society of Friends who were in favor of progress, and 
of separating religion from technical and dead theology. 
These persons, however, did not exclude from their asso- 
ciation any who had been members of other sects, or who 
were members of no sect, who agreed with them in their 
opinions ; and all were welcome who, being moral in their 
lives, sympathized with the professed aims and purposes 
of the convocation. 

In answer to the published call, a very large number of 
persons convened at the time and place appointed. The 
meeting was organized and officers selected. There were 
delegates present from a number of the Eastern and 
Western States. Testimonies or reports were read in 
reference to the most prominent evils and social crimes of 
the day. Thus a distinctive form was given to the views 
entertained by those present, and those whom they repre- 
sented; and the Pennsylvania yearly meeting of Pro- 
gressive Friends was, after a session of several days, duly 
organized and concluded. From that period till the pre- 
sent, yearly meetings have been regularly held in May of 
each year, and an increase of numbers and of interest 
would seem to indicate that a marked progress has thus 
far characterized the existence of this religious community. 

The various orthodox sects have regarded and still re- 
gard the Progressive Friends with great apprehension and 
some horror ; stigmatizing them as persons who, under the 
disguise of religion, and as seekers after truth, are en- 
gaged in diffusing the most rank and ravenous infidelity. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 813 

That tlie reader may judge for himself how true or how 
false this accusation is, we will set forth the prominent 
opinions entertained bj this sect, as avowed in their pub- 
lished testimonies and other authorized documents, 

I. And first, of their views of Physical Reforms. At 
their meetings, from time to time, some of their testimo- 
nies refer to the '^ Deleterious Effects of Tobacco." They 
condemn the use of this popular weed on the ground that 
it occasions a great waste of money, and produces the 
most injurious effects on health, and leads to a want of 
cleanliness of person. Instances were adduced where 
children, who had been induced to taste tobacco, expired 
in convulsions. The various results which follow the use 
of this article were cited — the gradual decay of health, 
the gradual enervation of the mind, stupor, headache, 
tremors, prostration, coma. They assert that in the 
United States alone twenty thousand persons die annually 
of diseases directly produced by the use of tobacco. They 
also condemn it because it tends to the use of alcoholic 
drinks, and in various ways deteriorates and degrades 
humanity. 

II. Another important question with the Progressive 
Friends is the treatment which the Indians of our country 
have received from the nation. These unfortunate people 
are regarded as the victims of a selfish and cruel spirit, 
which has for several generations promoted national and 
personal aggrandizement at the expense of the rights of 
the weak and the defenceless. They hold that in all 
those cases where the Indians have been treated with hu- 
manity, they have reciprocated with a friendly feeling, 
but that one of the blackest pages in the history of our 
country is the long array of persecutions and wrongs 
which these people have suffered. Every humane heart 
must approve of the sentiments expressed by the Pro- 
gressive Eriends on this subject, for it would be difficult 
to excuse, on any ground of religion or human justice, the 
innumerable outrages which the white man has inflicted 
upon the aborigines of this country and their descendants. 



314 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

III. But the most vehement and earnest testimony of 
Progressive Friends is against Southern Slavery. This 
they regard as the great social and political evil of the 
day. They contend that the holding of a human heing as 
property is a crime against God and against humanity ; 
that every bondman in the land is entitled to full and 
unrestricted liberty; and they demand that these inalien- 
able, but plundered rights, shall be immediately and uni- 
versally restored. They denounce the Supreme Court of 
the United States, because they have proclaimed the doc- 
trine that persons of African descent, or whose descent is 
even partly African, cannot enjoy or claim the rights of 
citizenship under any circumstances. They assert that 
neither of the great political parties which now exist in 
this country is entitled to their support, because the one 
(the Democratic) is the avowed protector and partisan of 
the institutions of the Southern States, while the other 
(the Republican) merely compounds with the felony, takes 
half-way ground, and endeavors to "carry water on both 
shoulders." They also condemn the popular and more 
prevalent churches of the country, because they are in 
fact the bulwarks of the sin, defending it on the ground 
of religion and the Scriptures. They stigmatize the 
American Tract Society, because, while it rebukes with 
great outcry and clamor such harmless indulgences as 
sleeping in church, dancing, and attending theatres, re- 
fuses to say a word in regard to a colossal crime which 
outrages the most valued rights of three millions of hu- 
man beings. The same objection they make to the Ame- 
rican Bible Society, which refuses to distribute the Bible 
among the slaves, and uses its influence to discountenance 
agitation on the subject of slavery. In all its bearings 
the Progressive Friends condemn the " peculiar institu- 
tion" as an unmitigated sin and curse. 

lY. The question of Women's Rights is an important 
one with this sect. They contend that women are entitled 
to an equal voice with men in making and administering 
the laws ; that they are entitled to equal rights in regard 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 315 

to the use and possession of property ; and that the doc- 
trine of the mental inferiority of women to men is erro- 
neous and absurd. They denounce the tyranny of hus- 
bands over wives, and condemn the outrages which the 
existing laws enable the former to inflict upon the latter 
with impunity. In order to prepare women to exercise 
their rights with prudence and success, they contend that 
such an education should be given to women as will fit 
them for that end and duty. 

Under the head of women's rights comes the important 
question of marriage and divorce. The Progressive Friends 
hold that marriage is simply a civil contract, and nothing 
more. Hence they believe that divorces are justifiable 
whenever any of the essential ingredients or elements of 
the marriage contract are violated by either party. Thus 
they think that divorces are justifiable for desertion, for 
abusive treatment, for habitual neglect, and for all the 
other causes which the law of the land — the protector of 
civil rights and the punisher of civil wrongs — may permit 
and allow. This opinion is at variance with the Orthodox 
Church doctrine, which generally (though not always) 
inculcates that Christ intended to restrict divorces to cases 
of adultery alone. Progressive Friends condemn the idea 
that marriage is a sacramental rite invested with a priestly 
sanctity, or deriving any virtue whatever from priestly 
benediction. In a word, they leave the question of mar- 
riage and divorce entirely with the law of the land ; yet 
they do not countenance the careless or unnecessary disso- 
lution of the marriage tie, because that extreme leads to 
pernicious social and domestic evils. To justify divorces 
for desertion they quote Paul, in 1 Corinthians vii. 12-15. 

Y. Another point concerning which Progressive Friends 
have sent forth their testimony, and have taken decided 
ground, is war^ both offensive and defensive. They deny 
that human liberty has ever been really promoted by con 
flicts ; and while they do not approve of submitting to the 
burdens and exactions of tyranny with a servile and cow- 
ardly spirit, they think it is still worse to resist them by 



316 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

bloody means. Rather submit with the spirit of meek- 
ness, and wbile protesting against tyranny in the cause of 
humanity, refrain from all retaliation and violence. That 
is the highest display of courage, the noblest exhibition 
of heroism of character. They commend the teachings 
of the New Testament : ^' Overcome evil with good ; re- 
compense no man evil for evil ; love your enemies ; bless 
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute 
you." 

YI. The opinions of Progressive Friends are decided 
on the subject of Temperance. They are in favor of total 
abstinence from the use of intoxicating drinks as a beve- 
rage, as the only effectual safeguard against the evils of 
drunkenness. They also hold, that the adoption of penal 
laws against the sale of liquors is not as effectual in sup- 
pressing this vice as the use of moral suasion ; and that 
the drunkard himself is much more effectually reached 
and reformed by those means than by the terrors of the 
penalties of the la*w. 

VII. The Progressives also condemn capital punishment 
for crime as a relic of a barbarous age, as originating in 
a spirit of revenge, and as tending to increase the evils it 
professes to remedy. They hold that the chief intention 
of all punishment should be to reform and elevate the 
offender ; and that the death penalty accomplishes neither 
of these results. They also condemn the recent revival 
which has taken place throughout a portion of the country, 
on the ground that it is a revival of the prevalent and 
popular religion, which they believe to be full of errors 
and perversions ; the revival of that religion which sanc- 
tions war, slavery, sectarian exclusiveness, priestcraft, 
superstition, and hypocrisy. 

The Progressive Friends,, in establishing their new 
society, appointed no forms or ceremonies as the peculiar 
badges of their association. Nor did they adopt any par- 
ticular creed as containing a system of dogmas to which 
those who associated with them were compelled to adhere. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 817 

Though they set forth, as we have stated, those chief 
points on which the majority of them seemed to agree, yet 
all were allowed the most complete liberty in the senti- 
ments which they espoused. Creed-making was not among 
the purposes of the association. Pure Christianity, with- 
out any human alloy, was the boon after which they pro- 
fessed to search. The terms of membership were confined 
to morality of life and general sympathy in behalf of in- 
tellectual freedom on the part of those who join them. 
The most prominent persons who have identified them- 
selves with this movement are Oliver Johnson, Charles C. 
Burleigh, S. P. Curtis, J. A. Dugdale, Joshua R. Gid- 
dings, William Lloyd Garrison, James F. Clarke, and 
Theodore Parker. 

As might be anticipated, the Progressives reject the 
doctrines of the Trinity, a vicarious atonement, the neces- 
sity of forms, ordinances, and ceremonies, the efiicacy of 
a priesthood, and the eternity of the future torments of 
the wicked. They believe in the entire spirituality of 
Christianity, and in the idea that virtue and vice, religion 
and sin, constitute their own reward, and confer happiness 
or inflict misery of themselves, both in this world and in 
that which is to come. They admit the truth of no dogma, 
the inherent nature of which outrages reason or contra- 
dicts reason, and which must be accepted and entertained 
by a constant process of ignoring and stultifying that 
standard of human knowledge and consciousness which is 
the admitted and indispensable organ and medium of 
mental and moral apprehension in all other things — com- 
mon sense. Guided by this standard, they reject the 
popular idea of the nature of the Supreme Being, by 
which He is made, as they think, a cruel, revengeful, 
changeable, and short-sighted being, imperfect in his power, 
in his wisdom, in his justice, and in all the other attributes 
of his character. 



^18 HISTOEY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

COPTS. 

The Copts are a sect comprising most of the Chris- 
tian population in Eg^^pt, and the valley of the Nile. 
They claim lineal descent from that ancient people who 
inhabited Egypt in the time of the Ptolemies, and hold 
tliat their Christian Ritual is the most ancient of any in 
existence. In their list of saints, is included one of 
the Evangelists ; and the monks of one of their con- 
vents claim to be in possession of the remains of St. 
Mark, who was martyred in Alexandria. 

Though they have, to some extent, intermarried and 
become mixed with other races and tribes, they have 
maintained great distinctness of race and character, and 
take great pride in their origin, and the purity of their 
descent. Intermarriage with other Egyptian races is 
prohibited by ecclesiastical law. The Copts are better 
educated, and are, in many respects, superior to the Mos- 
lem Arabs. They were at one time a numerous and in- 
fluential people ; but from the millions who once ad- 
hered to the Coptic faith, and who, according to legend, 
had three hundred and thirty-six convents, they have 
diminished in numbers to such an extent, that it is com- 
puted they have now, in all Egypt, not more than 
150,000 members. 

The Coptic church has five orders of active and sec- 
ular clergy, besides the monks. The head of the church 
is the Patriarch of Alexandria, whose residence is in 
the city of Cairo. Some eight or ten monks are named 
by the Superior of the Convent of St. Anthony, near 
the gulf of Suez, and from that list the Patriarch is 
selected by lot, and holds his office for life. His author- 
ity in the church is nearly absolute. Next to him are 
the twelve bishops, who are chosen from the convents. 
The Patriarch and bishop are not allowed to marry. 
The arch-priests are next in order ; then the priests ; 
and fifth in order is the deacon or incipient priest. 
The Copts are zealously devoted to their ecclesiastical 



HISTOKY OF ALL EELIGIONS. 819 

forms and system, and regard the communions of Greece 
and Eome as heretical. The Coptic creed is that of the 
Monophysites, who were condemned as heretics at the 
council of Chalcedon, in the year 451. They do not 
admit the doctrine of two natures in Christ, but be- 
lieve that after the incarnation he possessed but a single 
nature and a single will ; and they believe the Holy 
Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. They baptize 
by dipping the child three times into water which con- 
tains a few drops of consecrated oil. They believe a 
child who dies without being baptized, will be blind in 
the next world. Like the Jews, they practice circumci- 
sion, and are similar to them also in their customs re- 
specting food. A form of communion is observed by 
them, and the confessional is regarded as important as 
it is with the Catholics. They use the rosary, which 
contains forty-one beads, and are very strict in their at- 
tention to daily prayer. Seven times a day they turn 
to the east, and repeat forty -one times their supplication 
for the Lord's mercy. The Coptic church has four 
compartments. The chancel, or heykel, occupies the 
extreme end from the doorway; next to that, is the 
post occupied by the priests, who interpret ; between 
the last-named and the main apartment, occupied by the 
congregation, there is a high lattice-work, in which 
there are three doors ; the fourth apartment is separated 
from the third by a lattice partition, and is occupied by 
the women, who always wear their veils during wor- 
ship. On entering the church, each person must re- 
move his shoes, and go and kneel before the cross. The 
public services usually occupy several hours, and con- 
sist of various forms from their ritual, accompanied by 
chantings, burning of incense, processions around the 
church, beating of cymbals, etc. The service within 
the heykel, or sanctuary, is from their liturgies, in the 
Coptic tongue, and is interpreted by the priests in Ara- 
bic to the congregation. Their days of entire or par- 
tial fasting, comprise about one-half the year. Their 



320 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

festivals also are numerous, while they commemorate, 
with special attention, those of the nativity, the bap- 
tism, the triumphal entry, the resurrection, the ascen- 
sion, the Pentecost miracle, and the annunciation to the 
Virgin. 

The Copts have a convent in the city of Jerusalem, 
and a chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 
Manuscripts from their convents have been obtained, 
dating back as far as the fifth century. In the early 
centuries of the Christian era, the Copts had great in- 
fluence in establishing the doctrines of faith, and the 
names of many of their patriarchs are commemorated 
in the Greek and Roman calendars. Their patriarch 
was then a rival of the Roman bishop. From the time 
of the Mohammedan conquest, down to the reign of 
Mehemet AH, they were subject to great persecution 
and oppression. But through all their trials, they have 
maintained the distinctness of their race and reli- 
gion ; and though but little elevated above the Moslem 
Arabs in their habits and modes of life, they claim -a 
common origin of faith with other Christians, and ex- 
tend the mendicant's hand, for fellowship and charity, 
from their more fortunate Christian brethren of other 
countries. 

CHRISTIAN CONNECTION. 

This -denomination was formed in the United States, 
about the beginning of the nineteenth century, and 
seems to have developed from a simultaneous move- 
ment, in distinct and remote parts of the country. By 
some, they have been called Christ-isLUS, sl pronunciation 
of the name which they have never adopted, and which 
they regard as very improper. Among themselves, they 
are known simply as Christians, or as the Christian Con- 
nection. 

In 1793, a movement was made in North Carolina, 
known as the " O'Kelley Secession/' from the Methodis* 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 321 

Episcopal Church, which resulted in the formation of 
a new church, called Christians, and which recognized 
no other code of doctrine or discipline, except the New 
Testament. A few years later, a similar movement was 
made in Kentucky, by members of the Presbyterian 
church ; and the seceders there organized under the 
same name. About the same time, the northern branch 
of this denomination sprung up in ITew England, being 
organized mainly by those who separated from the 
Baptists. Thus, unknown to each other, the seceders 
from several existing denominations, became organized 
in their several localities, under the same name — Chris- 
tians. Though several eminent persons were instru- 
mental in the development of the society, they recog- 
nize no individual as their leader. They point to the 
New Testament as their only creed or code of doctrine, 
and to Christ as the great Founder, and leave all to 
judge for themselves of the requirements of true apos- 
tolic Christianity. There is considerable diversity of 
opinion among them upon many of the minor doctrinal 
points in theology. This would naturally result from 
two causes ; first, their origin as seceders from different 
denominations ; and second, from the great latitude 
which they allow and teach, that all Christians should 
enjoy universal toleration, being guided only by the 
Scriptures as a rule of faith and duty, instead of the 
forms and creeds established and adopted by men. 

Each church, or society, is independent, and keeps a 
record of its actions and affairs — makes choice of its 
minister, and in every respect has the management of 
its own concerns. There is, however, a "connection" 
between the several churches comprised within a cer- 
tain district, by means of what is termed an annual 
conference. At these sessions, the ministers and church 
delegates are associated together for the purpose of 
conferring upon matters of mutual interest, transacting 
such business as tlieir common good may require, and 
acting as advisory councils in matters of difl&culty. 



322 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Althougli there is a diversity of belief among the mem- 
bers on many points of faith, there is yet an approx- 
imation to uniformity sufficient to secure concert of 
action. The following are some of the leading doc- 
trines which meet their general approval, and which 
embody the more important points upon which they 
agree : 

That there is one perfect and infinite God ; that Jesus 
Christ is the Son of God in the highest sense ; that the 
Scriptures, including the Old and New Testaments, 
were given by inspiration of God, and that they should 
constitute our rule of faith and practice ; that all men 
are guilty of sin, and can find pardon only through re- 
pentance, and faith in Jesus Christ ; that by the Holy 
Spirit, Christians are comforted, and sinners reproved ; 
and that the way of salvation is freely open to all who 
will repent of their sins, and come to Christ ; that God 
calls men to the ministry by his Holy Spirit ; that those 
who "fall from grace," as well as,those who have never 
repented, will be lost. They observe the Lord's Supper, 
and baptize by immersion. They believe in the literal 
resurrection of the dead, and that the righteous will 
pass into everlasting happiness, and the wicked into 
everlasting misery. Although they believe in the pre- 
existence and Sonship of Christ, they are unitarian in 
their views of Deity. 

This denomination has not been indifferent to the 
cause of education, nor the influence of the press. They 
have several weekly papers in different parts of the coun- 
try, and a "book concern" in Albany, New York. 
Among their institutions of learning, the most prom- 
inent is Antioch College, in the State of Ohio, which 
was for several years under the presidency of the Hon. 
Horace Mann. They have societies in most of the 
States, and comprise nearly 200,000 communicants; and 
have upv/ards of 2,000 preachers. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 323 



SPIEITUALISM. 

The advocates of Spiritualism, in the modern accep- 
tation of the term, comprise those who believe in the 
actual and open intercourse or communication between 
the inhabitants of earth, and those who have passed to 
the spirit world. The phenomena of modern Spiritualism 
seems to have assumed a form, and attracted attention in 
the year 1848, in what has been known as the " Fox 
Family," in the western part of the State of JSTew York. 
Commencing with audible sounds and mysterious rap- 
pings in the house of the Fox family, the manifestations 
increased in variety and character, and developed with 
wonderful rapidity, not only in different families in that 
locality, but in all parts of the country, especially in the 
northern and western States. Mediums, through whom 
these manifestations were said to occur, multiplied by 
hundreds, and were from all classes — the high and low, 
the rich and poor, the ignorant and learned. The phe- 
nomena assumed various forms of development, from 
raps and sounds, and the moving of ponderable bodies 
without visible contact, to the alleged perfect control of 
the medium by the spirit, and through him or her to 
speak, or write, as the will and intelligence of the. spirit 
might dictate. People from all classes of society, and 
from all religious denominations, were attracted by the 
new phenomena, and in a short time the subject was 
one of prominent discussion in the press, and in public 
and private assemblies, while the actual converts to 
Spiritualism included men of science, literature, and 
philosophy, and from all the learned professions. In 
1859 the "Spiritual Eegister" estimated that there 
were no less than 1,500,000 of Spiritualists in America 
and 4,000,000 more who had faith in the doctrines in a 
greater or less degree. They have published many 
books upon subjects connected with their theory and 
doctrines, and have some twenty-five or thirty pe- 



324 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

riodicals and journals. In various parts of Europe, es- 
pecially England and France, there are also many be- 
lievers in Spiritualism, and several journals devoted to 
the subject are there published. 

While Spiritualists are united in their belief as to in- 
telligible intercourse between the earthly and the spir- 
itual states of existence, they have no regular denomi- 
national organization nor written* creed, and there is 
great diversity of opinion among them on theological 
questions. Different views are entertained by them as 
to the character and merits of the Bible. They do not, 
however, generally regard it as a book of inspiration in 
an orthodox sense; but accept it as a record of his- 
toric events and of the religious views and experiences 
of the Jews and early Christians, including spiritual 
manifestations etc., of past ages, similar in kind but dif- 
fering in form and degree to those of the present day. 
They claim that the phenomena of Spiritualism furnish 
demonstrative and positive proof of the immortality of the 
soul, and believe that the spirit world is around us and 
blended with our present state. They regard death as 
a change by which the individual passes from earth 
life to life in the spirit world — retaining all his mental 
powers and faculties — and that the experiences and at- 
tainments of the present life, form the basis or founda- 
tion upon which he commences in the next. That this 
change, instead of restricting him to a fixed state, really 
enlarges his sphere of liberty ; and his happiness or 
misery in the spirit world, as in this, depends on the 
motives, aspirations, character, and conduct of the indi- 
vidual. They regard Heaven and Hell as states or con- 
ditions — not fixed by arbitrary decree — but the natural 
results of the organization, the manner of life and the 
surrounding influences of each person. 

Regarding man as the offspring of an Infinite and 
perfect Parent, they believe in the progressive tendency 
of the human race, and that the ultimate destiny of all 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 325 

mankind is to a higlier life and continual process of de- 
velopment in knowledge and happiness. 

They do not regard communications from the spirit 
world as being, on that account, infallible truth — but 
that they will in that respect, depend upon the nature 
and the motives, good or bad, of the minds from which 
they emanate — and the mediums through which they 
are received — hence they should be accepted as truth 
only when they are found to be in harmony with the 
consciousness and reason of the person who receives 
them. 

PAGANISM. 

Paganism is a term applied to those who worship 
and adore idols and false gods, and who comprise about 
three fifths of the entire population of the world. At 
one time or another. Paganism has existed over all in- 
habitable parts of the earth. In the earlier period of 
the world's history, it had its votaries, not only among 
the ignorant and weak, but the most powerful nations 
of the earth, and those who occupied the foremost rank 
in law, in literature, and in art, were devoted to the 
worship of the creature instead of the Creator. At dif- 
ferent periods, and by dijfferent nations, almost every 
thing known to man, whether animate or inanimate, 
have been objects of worship. The sun, moon, and 
stars, angels and demons, and spirits of the departed, 
living men and women, all kinds of animals, birds, rep- 
tiles, and insects, trees and plants, rivers and mountains 
and stones, fire and air ; and besides these, images, al- 
most without number, made of all kinds of material, 
and in all conceivable forms, have received the adora- 
tion and worship of countless millions of the past, and 
are receiving the homage of 480.000.000 of Pagans in 
the nineteenth century. 

Among the ancients, the number of their heathen 
temples was almost without limit, and in their magnifi- 



326 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

cence and splendor, they comprised all tliat art and 
munificence could bestow. The people of Eome, at 
one timC; worshipped their numerous deities in four 
hundred and twenty -four temples. The Greeks had no 
less than 30,000 gods. The great temple of Diana, at 
Ephesus, was, in size, four hundred and twenty-five feet, 
by two hundred and twenty feet ; with one hundred mar- 
ble columns, sixty feet in height, and each column weigh- 
ing one hundred and fifty tons. This immense edifice 
was adorned, inside and out, with the greatest profusion 
of gold and costly ornaments, and in all its magnificence 
and splendor, this wonderful temple was devoted to 
heathen worship. 

Idols of worship, at the present time, are made a 
lucrative branch of merchandise, by a class of manu- 
facturers and traders engaged in the business, as seen 
by the following advertisement from a Chinese news- 
paper: "Achen Tea Chin- Chin, Sculptor, respectfully 
acquaints masters of ships, trading from Canton to 
India, that they may be furnished with figure-heads of 
any size, according to order, at one fourth of the price 
charged in Europe. He also recommends for private 
venture, the following idols, brass, gold, and silver : 
the Hawk of Yishnoo, which has reliefs of his incarna- 
tion in a fish, boar, lion, and turtle. An Egyptian apis, 
a golden calf and bull, as worshipped by the pious fol- 
lowers of Zoroaster. Two silver mammosits, with 
golden ear-rings ; an aprimanis, for Persian worship ; 
a ram, an alligator, a crab, a laughing hyena, with a 
variety of household gods on a small scale, calculated 
for family worship. Eighteen months' credit will be 
given, or a discount of fifteen per cent, for prompt pay- 
ment of the sum affixed to each article. Direct, China 
street, Canton, under the Marble Rhinoceros and Gilt 
Hydra." 

It is gratifying to know that Paganism is gradually 
yielding to the sublime doctrines of Christianity, and 
the elevating and saving influences of the Christian re- 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 327 

ligion are being diffused in many parts of tlie heathen 
world ; and yet " the harvest truly is plenteous, but the 
laborers are few." The fact that so many millions of 
unfortunate human beings are groping their way in 
ignorance and superstition, calls loudly to Christian 
philanthropists to aid in rescuing them from their dark 
and benighted condition. 



PANTHEISM. 

Pantheism is that doctrine, or system which main- 
tains that the universe is God — or as expressed by 
Pope : 

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
Wliose body Nature is, and God the Soul." 

This doctrine has had its advocates in this country, 
as well as by Spinosa, and his followers in Amsterdam, 
and other parts of Europe. 

Some years ago, Abner Kneeland, of Boston, was, 
perhaps, the most prominent exponent of this theory in 
this country. In his " Philosophical Creed," he explains 
his views, as follows : 

" I believe in the existence of a universe of suns and 
planets, among which there is one sun belonging to our 
planetary system, and that other suns, being more re- 
mote, are called stars ; but that they are indeed suns to 
other planetary systems. I believe that the whole uni- 
verse is Nature, and that the word Nature embraces 
the whole universe, and that God and Nature, so far as 
we can attach any rational idea to either, are perfectly 
synonymous terms. Hence I am not an Atheist, but a 
Pantheist; that is, instead of believing there is no 
God, I believe that, in' the abstract, all is God ; and that 
all power that is, is in God, and that there is no power 
except that which proceeds from God. I believe that 
there can be no will or intelligence, where there is no 
sense, and no sense where there are no organs of sense 



S28 HISTOKY OF ALL KELIGIONS. 

and "hence, sense, will, and intelligence, is the effect, and 
not the cause, of organization. I believe in all that 
logically results from those premises, whether good, 
bad, or indifferent. Hence, I believe that God is all in 
all ; and that it is in God we live, move, and have our 
being ; and that the whole duty of man consists in 
living as long as he can, and in promoting as much 
happiness as he can, while he lives." 



PROTESTANTS. 

This name was first given to Martin Luther and his 
followers, and to those who, adhering to his doctrines, 
in 1529, protested against a decree of Charles Y., and 
the Diet of Spires, making an appeal to a general coun- 
cil. The name is now applied to all Christian denomi- 
nations which have sprung from the adoption of the 
principles of the Eeformation, and especially distin- 
guishes them from the Roman Catholics. 



PURITANS. 

The name of Puritan was originally applied as a 
term of reproach to those who, in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, dissented from the established church, and 
professed to follow the pure word of God, in opposition 
to traditions, creeds, liturgies, and other human autho- 
rities. Although the name was first applied to Presby- 
terians, it was also used to designate all dissenters from 
the established English church. Many of the first set- 
tlers of New England were English Puritans, or Dis- 
senters from the church of England, who were also 
called Independents. They comprised a highly moral 
and devoted class of people, but they were very exact- 
ing and rigid in their code of morals, and for many 
years manifested towards others much of that spirit of 



HISTORY OF ALL EELIGIONS. 329 

intolerance and severity wliicli had been shown toward 
themselves and their ancestors in England. 



DEISM. 

Deism is the doctrine of those who believe in the 
existence of one Grod, who is an eternal, infinite, inde- 
pendent, or intelligent Being or Deity ; but they do not 
believe in Eevelation. They claim that nature and 
reason are, and should be, their only and true guides 
in moral and religious matters, and reject all systems 
of revealed religion as being false. Some Deists believe 
in a future state of existence, while others reject the 
doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and believe 
that man's existence, like that of the lower animals, is 
limited to the present life. 



ATHEISM. 

An Atheist is one who does not believe in the ex- 
istence of a God. They not only reject all revelation, and 
all forms and systems of revealed religion, but deny 
the existence of a Creator and Supreme Euler of the 
universe. Absurd and unreasonable as this idea is, it 
has had its advocates, who believed that all things exist 
and occur, simply by chance — without law, design, or 
cause. 

YEZIDEES; 
OR, WOESHIPPERS OF THE DEYIL. 

The following description of this peculiar class of 
people, is given in an interesting work, published by 
Asahel Grant, M.D., a medical missionary to the Nes- 
torians : 

* Soon after leaving the ruins of Nineveh, we came 



C30 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

in sight of two villages of the Yezidees, the reputed 
worshippers of the devil. Large and luxuriant olive- 
groves, with their rich green foliage, and fruit just 
ripening in the autumnal sun, imparted such a cheerful 
aspect to the scene as soon dispelled w^hatever of pen- 
sive melancholy had gathered around me, while treading 
upon the dust of departed greatness. Several white 
sepulchres of Yezidee sheiks attracted attention, as I 
approached the villages. They were in the form of 
fluted cones or pyramids, standing upon quadrangular 
bases, and rising to the height of some twenty feet or 
more. "We became the guests of one of the- chief Yezi- 
dees, of Baasheka, whose dwelling, like others in the 
place, was a rude stone structure, with a flat terrace 
roof. Coarse felt carpets were spread for our seats in 
the open court, and a formal welcome was given us ; 
but it was evidently not a very cordial one. My Turk- 
ish cavass understood the reason, and at once removed 
it. Our host had mistaken me for a Mahometan, 
towards whom the Yezidees cherish a settled aversion. 
As soon as I was introduced to him as a Christian, and 
he had satisfied himself that this was my true character, 
his whole deportment was changed. He at once gave 
me a new and cordial welcome, and set about supplying 
our wants with new alacrity. He seemed to feel that 
he had exchanged a Moslem foe for a Christian friend, 
and I became quite satisfied of the truth of what I had 
often heard— that the Yezidees are friendly towards the 
professors of Christianity. 

" They are said to cherish a high regard for the Chris- 
tian religion, of which clearly they have some corrupt 
remains. They practice the rite of baptism, make the 
sign of the cross, so emblematical of Christianity in 
the East, put off their shoes, and kiss the threshokl 
when they enter a Christian church; and, it is said, 
they often speak of wine as the blood of Christ ; hold 
the cup with both hands, after the sacramental manner 
of the East, when drinking it ; and if a drop chance to 



HISTOKY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 831 

fall on the ground, thej gather it up with religious 
care. 

"They believe in one supreme God, and, in some 
sense, at least, in Christ as a Saviour. They have also 
a remnant of Sabianism, or the religion of the ancient 
fire-worshippers. They bow in adoration before the 
rising sun, and kiss his first rays when they strike on a 
wall or other object near them ; and they will not blow 
out a candle with their breath, or spit in the fire, lest 
they should defile that sacred element. Circumcision 
and the passover, or a sacrificial festival allied to the 
passover, in time and circumstance, seems also to iden- 
tify them with the Jews ; and, altogether they certainly 
present a most singular chapter in the history of man. 

'' That they are really worshippers of the devil can 
only be true, if at all, in a modified sense, though it is 
true that they pay him so much deference, as to refuse 
to speak of him disrespectfully (perhaps for fear of his 
vengeance) ; and instead of pronouncing his nam^e, they 
call him the 'lord of the evening,' or 'prince of dark- 
ness ;' also ' Sheik Maazen,' or ' Exalted Chief.' Some 
of them say that Satan was a fallen angel, with whom 
God was angry ; but he will at some future day be re- 
stored to favor, and there is no reason why they should 
treat him with disrespect. 

" The Christians of Mesapotamia report that the Yezi- 
dees make votive offerings to the devil, by throwing 
money and jewels into a certain deep pit in the moun- 
tains of Sinjar. where a large portion of them reside ; 
and it is said, that when that district, which has long 
been independent, was subjugated by the Turks, the 
pacha compelled the Yezidee priest to disclose the 
place, and then plundered it of a large treasure, the 
offerings of centuries. The Yezidees here call them- 
selves Daseni, probably from the ancient name of the 
district, Dasen, which was a Christian bishopric in early 
times. Their chief place of concourse, the religious 
temple of the Yezidees, is said to have once been a 



832 HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 

Christian chiirch or convent. The late Mr. Eich speaks 
of the Yezidees as ' lively, brave, hospitable, and good 
humored,' and adds thai, 'under the British govern 
ment, much might be made of them.' 

" The precise number of the Yezidees it is difficult to 
estimate, so little is known of them ; but it is proba- 
ble that we miist reckon them by tens of thousands, in- 
stead of the larger computations which have been made 
by some travellers, who have received their information 
merely from report. Still they are sufficiently nume- 
rous to form an important object of attention to the 
Christian church ; and I trust, as we learn more about 
them, sympathy, prayer, and effort, will be enlisted in 
their behalf. It will be a scene of no ordinary interest, 
when the voice of prayer aud praise to God shall as- 
cend from hearts, now devoted to the service of the 
prince of darkness, Hhe worshippers of the devil!' 
May that day be hastened on I" 



CHUECH GOYEENMBNT. 

There are three principal or general forms of church 
government ; and under these three systems, or a combi- 
nation of parts of each, all Christian churches in the 
world are governed. 

The Episcopalian, from the Latin word Episcopus, 
which signifies bishop, is the form which embraces by 
far the largest number, as it includes the Catholics, 
Episcopalian and English, the Greek church, and the 
Methodist ; while the Lutherans, one of the most nume- 
rous of Protestant sects, combines the Episcopalian and 
the Presbyterian forms in its church government. 

The name Presbyterian is derived from a Greek word, 
which signifies Senior, Elder, or Presbyter. This form 
is adopted by those who hold that the church should 
be governed through the organization of Presbyteries, 
Synods, and General Assemblies. 



HISTORY OF ALL RELIGIONS. 333 

The Congregational form of churcli government ig 
that adopted by the Congregationalists and some other 
sects, who maintain that each congregation or society of 
Christians is and should be independent of all others 
in its ecclesiastical power, and that no association with 
any other society or church organization is essential or 
necessary in church government. 



EELIGIONS OF THE WOELD. 

The general estimate, so far as can be determined, is 
that the inhabitants of the world amount to 800,000,000. 
No nation or tribe of people is known who do not 
believe in and practice some form of worship — from 
the lowest and most repulsive phase of Pagan idolatry, 
up through all gradations, to the sublime truths of Chris- 
tianity. The following division of the inhabitants of 
the world, as they exist under their several systems of 
religion, is regarded as being, in round numbers, nearly 
correct : 

Jews, 2,500,000 

Mohammedans, 140,000,000 

Christians, 177,500,000 

Pagans, . . 480,000,000 

Population of the world, 800,000,000 

The following sub-division of the 177,500,000 Chris- 
tians, may also be regarded as nearly accurate : 

Greek Christians, * 32,500,000 

Protestants, 65,000,000 

Eoman Catholics, 80,000,000 

Total number of Christians, 177,500,000 



834 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



APPENDIX —BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



KEY. CHARLES WADSWORTH. 

The pulpit is the most favorable arena for the cultiva- 
tion and display of eloquence which the usages and insti- 
tutions of modern times present. Whatever other disa- 
greeable incidents may attend the clerical office, the 
moment a preacher ascends the pulpit, he occupies for the 
time being a vantage ground and an eminence above the 
rest of the community. The inherent dignity and impor- 
tance of the subjects which he is called upon to discuss ; 
the direct personal interest which every hearer possesses 
in the truth or falsehood of the doctrines which he incul- 
cates, and the positions which he assumes; the immense 
influence exerted by Christianity upon the laws, literature, 
social life, and political relations of the community ; the 
long array of impressive historical associations which are - 
connected with the past fortunes and vicissitudes of this 
most ancient and potent of all existing institutions ; the 
fact that the preacher is supposed to be a man of spotless 
character, and of competent intellectual training ; and also, 
the circumstance that his utterances, whatever they may 
be, remain uncontradicted and uncontroverted except by 
the secret and inaudible dissent of the hearer ; — all these 
reasons often render the Pulpit the throne of eloquence. 

The Rev. Charles Wadsworth is the pastor of the Arch 
Street Presbyterian Church, in Philadelphia. He is re- 
garded b/ a large portion of the community as stand- 
ing at the head of the pulpit orators of that city ; and 
this estimate, taking all things into consideration, is 
probably a just one. Those who are attracted to his 
church by his widely-spread fame will be disappointed if 
they expect to see a polished, graceful and ornate speaker, 
who modulates his voice, who moulds his gestures, and 
who arranges the details of his attire, with ail the scrupu- 
lous and childish care of a boarding-school miss. He de- 



BIOGHAPHICAL NOTICES. 835 

ppises these insignificant matters as being beneath bis no- 
tice. He deals in weightier affairs. The visitor will see 
in the pulpit a man of small stature, about forty-three 
years of age, with thin black hair, wearing gold spectacles, 
of singular and significant physiognomy, exhibiting the 
care-worn marks of thought, the dilapidating physical ef- 
fects of protracted and intense study. His gestures arc 
usually made in violation of all the rules which teachers 
of elocution enjoin and commend as being most appropriate 
and effective : they are wholly impulsive, seeming to be 
merely the spasmodic effects of the electrical impetus of 
the powerful thinking-machine which works within him ; 
and they are generally awkward, but always suggestive, 
and sometimes impressive. As the hearer watches and 
listens, he discovers, while the speaker is advancing in 
the discussion of his subject, that he is an original and a 
profound thinker, whose eloquence is solely the unadorned 
eloquence of thought ; that the deep and overwhelming ef- 
fect produced on the hearer's mind is the result of the 
boldness, the freshness, the gorgeous richness, the quaint, 
lurid, meteoric quality and splendor of those conceptions 
which the speaker has gathered in his intellectual rambles 
in realms unfamiliar and unknown to the generality of 
mortals, and has reproduced in his pulpit. Some of Mr. 
Wadsworth's thoughts are like thunderbolts, gleaming, 
glittering, far-flashing to and fro through the intellectual 
heavens ; and no beholder can witness one of these in 
their full extent and power without remembering the im- 
pression produced by it for a long time afterward. It is 
chiefly this quality which lies at the foundation of Mr. 
Wadsworth's fame as a pulpit orator. He is also original 
in his use of words, and is very felicitous sometimes in re- 
producing such as are either unused and unfamiliar, or are 
perhaps entirely unknown ; and this peculiarity gives that 
freshness to his sermons which always renders them a 
treat when compared with the tame, arid and uninteresting 
effusions which frequently characterize the pulpit. 

We may illustrate a portion of this remark by an ex- 



336 BIOGJIAPHICAL NOTICES. 

ample. What could be more refreshing than a paragraph 
like the following, taken from his published sermon on 
"Development and Discipline:" 

" Here is a man — it may be truly a Christian— whose 
earthly life is full of gladness and glory : his dwelling- 
place is a palace ; his name is a power in the land's lan- 
guage; fair and fond children love him; honorable men 
honor him ; no corroding sorrow tortures his heart ; no in- 
satiate ambition embitters his life-spring ; a happy and 
joyous man he is on earth. Now, though this man may 
be a Christian, he is not ready to die. So rich and fair 
in its coloring falls round him this massive curtain of 
things temporal, that even the revealed lustres of eternity 
shine but faintly through ; and if the fire-car which came 
for Enoch and Elijah should descend visibly to his portal, 
Oh ! it would be almost with the recoil of a breaking heart 
that he looked the last on his princely possessions, and 
said * farewell' to his beloved household, and flung the 
reins loose on the winged coursers, turning his face for- 
ever from the earthly, and rushing up to the skies." 

Truly, if such a magnificent passage as this — ^and Mr, 
Wadsworth's sermons abound with them — were declaimed 
by an accomplished elocutionist, the effect produced would 
be overwhelming. But it must be admitted that Mr. 
Wadsworth's peculiar and pointless delivery often weakens 
the power with which such majestic thoughts are always 
pregnant. If some modern Whitefield, or some living 
Bascom, were to deliver a few of his sermons as they 
should be delivered, it would be an intellectual luxury 
which is enjoyed but once in a cycle of ages, and would 
revive the palmy era. of a Chalmers and a Robert Hall. 

What, then, are Mr. Wadsworth's defects ? We answer, 
a monotonous and tiresome tone of voice; a mumbling of his 
words, by which he fails to expel their articulation beyond 
his teeth — a peculiarity which frequently deprives his origi- 
nal and expressive nomenclature of half its effect ; and as 
his words are the vehicles which convey his thoughts, this 
peculiarity deadens and weakens the impression which his 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 837 

concept! Dns would otherwise constantly make upon the 
hearer. 

The construction of Mr. Wadsworth's sermons is some- 
what peculiar. It has hoth its merits and its defects. 
The affluence of his ideas leads him to despise all tho es- 
tablished rules, according to which the homiletical writers 
of the elder schools divided and subdivided, framed and 
fabricated, their sermons. There is not the least resem- 
blance between his productions and those sermons which 
harmonize with the rules of Simeon, or the examples of 
Dwight, in which the various formal heads and sub-heads 
amount to some fifteen or twenty. But he seizes three or 
four of the chief thoughts contained in, or suggested by, 
the text, and expounds and illustrates them after his own 
fashion, in utter indifference to all that Porter or Gresley 
may have enjoined in their manuals on Homiletics. This 
plan of sermonizing may do very well for men of such 
superior talent as Mr. Wadsworth ; but it would be very 
injudicious for the great majority of preachers, whose intel- 
lects are barren, and whose thoughts are commonplace. To 
such men as the latter the various subdivisions of a dis- 
course are indispensable helps, and enable them to fill out 
the requisite amount of matter, of which they would other- 
wise be incapable. 

KEY. J. B. DALES. 

The Rev. Dr. Bales is pastor of the Associate Reformed 
Church, in Race street, in Philadelphia. He is a native 
of Pennsylvania, and is about forty-eight years of age. 
The denomination to which he belongs is one of that cluster 
of minor Presbyterian Churches which have separated 
from time to time in Scotland from the great Presbyterian 
National Church ; some of which have afterward divided 
and subdivided again among themselves, until the magni- 
tude of the fragments has become very inconsiderable, and 
the doctrinal diiferences whereon they disagree are almost 
imperceptible. Thev are all extreme Calvinists. A 
22 



338 BIOaRAPHICAL NOTICES. 

portion of them, sucli as tlie Seceders, and the Associate 
Keformed, use no hymns in public or private worship, ex- 
cept the Psalms of David, as originally translated into 
horrific verse by Rouse, and modified from time to time by 
subsequent ameliorations. Quite recently a union has 
been efiected, by the Synods at Pittsburg, between the 
Associate Reformed Church to which Dr. Dales belongs, and 
the body known as the Seceder, or Associate Church ; and 
this new denomination is now and henceforth to be known 
by the title of the United Presbyterian Church. Their 
doctrines remain unchanged. These are in substance the 
same as those of the Old School Presbyterian denomina- 
tion ; but they difier from these in matters of public wor- 
ship. Some of them go so far as to insist that the use of 
Watts' hymns, or any other uninspired composition, in the 
public or private worship of God, is idolatry or blasphemy. 
None of these churches permit the use of choirs. A pre- 
centor, whose performances rarely rival the artistic skill 
of Mario or Brignoli, leads the singing, and he is usually 
well supported by the congregation. 

Dr. Dales has been pastor of his present church 'for 
some eighteen or twenty years. His congregetion is a 
portion of the same to whom Mr. Chambers originally 
officiated in Thirteenth street, above Market, previous to 
the secession which led to the erection of the present 
church of that gentleman on Broad street. It was origi- 
nally known as the Ninth Presbyterian Church, and was 
built in 1814. An old lady named Margaret Duncan, 
who for many years had been a shop keeper in this city, 
left a sum of money by her last will, together with the lot 
m Thirteenth, above Market, for the purpose of erecting a 
church. Mrs. Duncan was herself a member of the Se- 
ceder denomination, and her intention doubtless was that 
the building constructed by her bounty should be connected 
with the same body. It is said that, whilst upon her 
passage to this country, she encountered at sea a storm of 
fearful violence, and the vessel was threatened with cer- 
tain destruction ; but that she made a vow" that, should 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 839 

she escape a watery grave, she would testify her gratitude 
for her preservation by erecting a church for the worship 
of God, should she ever possess the means so to do. The 
vessel outrode the tempest ; Mrs. Duncan was saved ; and 
after many years she fulfilled her promise as aforesaid. 
Kecently, the congregation of Dr. Dales have sold their 
former property, and erected the church in which he now 
preaches, in Race street, below Sixteenth. The official 
connection of the congregation and pastor is with the 
United Presbyterian Church. 

This new edifice is a large, commodious, and, in many 
respects, a handsome one. Simplicity and plainness are 
generally regarded by the denomination to which Dr. 
Dales belongs as proper and essential qualities in the con- 
struction of houses of worship. They regard all unneces- 
sary ornament as unbecoming ; and look upon the Gothic 
and other antique styles of architecture as inappropriate 
to places used for the service of God, and as approxima- 
tions to the horrid abominations of Rome. But in this 
instance the congregation seem to have mad-e an innova- 
tion, and have introduced a degree of ornament into their 
new edifice, which is an anomaly among the other Associate 
Reformed Churches in this country. Stained windows are 
even used in the building, which, could old Margaret Dun- 
can arise from her sunken grave and see, we fear she 
would condemn in no very equivocal terms. The whole 
arrangement of this church is convenient and pleasing, 
with one solitary exception. This is the singular and 
shapeless top-knot or frontispiece which surmounts the 
roof in front, and is in itself a most detestable deformity. 
What it resembles, what it is intended to represent, or 
what use it is supposed to accomplish, we cannot divine ; 
but certain it is, that it is an injury to the appearance and 
beauty of the otherwise chaste and elegant building. 

One very commendable peculiarity of the large congre- 
gation who worship here is the fact that they generally 
join heartily and devoutly in the singing. It is bad 
enough when the whole musical part of the divine worship 



840 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 

is executed by three or four operatic singers, who are paid 
so much per day for their performances ; in whose singing 
there is not a particle of devotion ; and who are, themselves, 
as is sometimes the case, persons of notoriously immoral 
lives. In such instances it is bad enough when no person 
in the congregation praises God except these musical hire- 
lings — for such music and such singing must be as great 
an abomination to the Deity as is the wicked prayer of a 
wicked man. But the case is still worse when there is but 
a single singer or precentor, who " does" the hymn while 
the whole congregation listen aloof, curiously or negli- 
gently, and take no part whatever in the exercise, which 
thus becomes a feeble and preposterous solo. Dr. Dales* 
congregation neither use an operatic choir, nor permit 
a solo performance. They all join heartily and solemnly, 
after the good old Scotch fashion in the exercise of singing. 
As an orator Dr. Dales is peculiar. He is an excellent 
sermonizer. His discourses are systematic in their struc- 
ture ; they exhibit clear evidence of the possession of much 
more than ordinary learning ; and they are rendered valuable 
and instructive by the frequent introduction of appropriate 
proof-texts. His language is choice and appropriate ; and 
this is the more remarkable, as he usually extemporises 
from well prepared memoranda or skeletons. Nor is the 
Bubject matter of his sermon dry and tasteless, as is too 
often the case with preachers of his denomination. He 
possesses a considerable share of imagination. He uses 
tropes and figures ; he even employs them appropriately 
and efiectively ; and his manner of delivery is such as to 
increase the impression which they produce. He com- 
mences his discourse slowly and almost inaudibly ; but as 
he progresses, he increases in fervor and in excitement. 
He gesticulates with singular appropriateness and pro- 
priety ; and when he arrives at the argumentative part of 
his sermon, he reasons with clearness and power. His 
sermons exhibit unusual symmetry of construction, and 
they generally go regularly through the formal yet judi- 
cious routine of introduction, division, narration, argument, 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 341 

illustration and conclusion. Nor does this formality seem 
tedious, for he possesses the ability to render each part 
interesting and instructive. 

Nevertheless, these superior merits are rendered almost 
useless by one defect, which is radical and ruinous, but 
over which, unfortunately, he has no control. He has the 
worst voice of any public speaker to whom we have ever 
listened. We believe he has suflfered from bronchial dis- 
ease, and the result is, that his vocal organ is one which 
would condemn even Demosthenes himself. It is difficult 
to describe it, for there is scarcely anything of it to describe. 
When sparingly used by him, it is both weak and screechy ; 
and when he endeavors to speak loudly, it almost resembles 
the echo of a frantic scream. 



KEY. ALBERT BARNES. 

The Rev. Albert Barnes is the pastor of the First Pres- 
byterian Church, located on Washington Square, Philadel- 
phia. He has occupied, for many years, a prominent 
position among the clergymen of Philadelphia ; and, in 
consequence of his labors as an author, his name has ex- 
tended throughout many distant countries, where even 
the existence of the majority of his associates is unknown. 

Mr. Barnes was born, we believe, at Rome, in the State 
of New York, and is now about sixty years of age. 
His youth was passed in manual labor ; and he was ap- 
prenticed in his boyhood to learn the art and mystery of 
a miller. He had scarcely reached his majority, when 
certain infidel notions which he had previously imbibed 
were exploded ; he became pious, and determined to pre- 
pare himself for the ministry. This purpose he carried 
into effect at Princeton. His collegiate and theological 
course having been completed, he was ordained as a cler- 
gyman by the Presbytery under whose care he had placed 
himself and had been studying. His first pastoral charge 
was at Morristown, New Jersey. About the year 1830 
he was invited to become pastor of the church with which 



oii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 

he is now connected, and to which he has laboriously min- 
istered ever since. He has on several occasions been in- 
vited to remove to other posts of responsibility and honor, 
but he has uniformly declined. Some years since he was 
elected President of the Auburn Theological Seminary ; 
but he preferred to retain his pastoral position, greatly to 
the gratification of the members of his congregation. 

Shortly after his removal to Philadelphia, Mr. Barnes 
became the unintentional cause of bitter theological dis- 
putes, and eventually of a great ecclesiastical schism, in 
the Presbyterian Church. This event took place in 1835. 
Until that period, that numerous and powerful body of 
American Christians had remained undivided and harmo- 
nious, at least so far as outward seeming and union were 
concerned. But there had been, during many years, a 
difference of opinion gradually growing among their mem- 
bers and divines in reference to certain theological dogmas, 
especially with regard to those points which are distinct- 
ively termed Calvinistic. The nature of the divine de- 
crees, the doctrines of election, reprobation, free-grace, 
infant damnation, perseverance of the saints, and similar 
theories, which form the central points of the Calvinistic 
or Augustinian system, were those respecting which this 
difference of sentiment among Presbyterians was silently 
and slowly progressing. How long that diversity might 
have existed in the church without producing open conflict 
and a public schism, it would be difficult to say ; but Mr. 
Barnes was unconsciously destined to become the apple of 
discord among his brethren. He prepared and published 
a commentary, or practical and exegetical notes, on the 
Gospels, in which he set forth his peculiar views on the 
points just mentioned. These views were what might be 
termed liberal, in comparison with the old fossilized theo- 
ries which had been held by that denomination ever since 
the days of John Knox ; and the great exponent of which 
in this country was Jonathan Edwards. Mr. Barnes, in 
interpreting certain passages of the Gospels, gave utter- 
ance to opinions which were at once stigmatized by some 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 843 

of his brethren as new school, as innovations, as uncalvin- 
istic or Pelagian, as heterodox and unchristian. An awful 
hue and cry was raised against him. The whole country 
resounded with the yells of an indignant, outraged, impla- 
cable orthodoxy. Calvin himself, when burning the un- 
happy Servetus at Geneva for teaching sentiments which 
such men as Milton, Priestley, and Channing have since 
entertained, could not have been more ravenously intent 
on wreck and ruin, than were some of. the persecutors of 
Mr. Barnes for inculcating doctrines which, before and 
since, have been believed and taught by myriads of the 
most excellent of men, the salt of the earth. 

The publication of Mr. Barnes' Notes concentrated 
around his own head the storms which had been brewing 
for some years in the Presbyterian body. Already had 
he excited censure and suspicion by publishing a sermon, 
in February, 1829, while yet residing at Morristown, en- 
titled " The Way of Salvation," which dimly foreshadowed 
the views which were more fully expressed in his Commen- 
tary. When, therefore, he was about to remove to Phila- 
delphia, as the successor of Dr. Wilson, a portion of the 
congregation objected to his settlement and entered their 
protest. When that protest was overruled against the dis- 
affected party, and after Mr. Barnes had been duly in- 
stalled by the Philadelphia Presbytery, a formal complaint 
was made to that tribunal against him as a teacher of 
heresy. The charges were not prosecuted for some time, 
as the assailants of Mr. Barnes were fearful lest they 
might be discomfited in their assault upon him, by a greater 
and wider prevalence of his views among his clerical breth ■ 
ren than they anticipated. At length, however, when 
Mr. Barnes published his "Notes of Romans," the sup 
posed bulwark of intensified Calvinism, wherein his inter- 
pretations were more bold, free and clear than they had 
previously been, his opponents became frantic ; a hue and 
cry, louder, fiercer, hoarser, than before, was raised, and 
they proceeded to impeach him in form, as being guilty 
of "damnable heresies." 



844 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 

The controversy which ensued occupied the attention 
of the church during the progress of several years. A 
great deal of learning, eloquence, and acrimony were elici- 
ted on both sides, which furnished another and a memora- 
ble evidence that of all hatreds the odium theologicum is 
the most intense and unchristian. The Presbytery voted 
on the question of heresy in July, 1835, and Mr. Barnes 
was acquitted. The Inquisitor General, Mr. Junkin, ap- 
pealed from this decision to the Synod of Philadelphia, 
which convened at York, in May, 1836. By that body 
Mr. Barnes was condemned, and suspended from all the 
functions of the ministry until he should furnish evidence 
of repentance. But, instead of repenting, he appealed 
from the Synod to the General Assembly, which sjibse- 
quently convened at Pittsburg. By that body, after a 
full hearing and protracted argument, his appeal was sus- 
tained by a vote of 134 to 94. He was thus reinstated in 
the ministry and in his church, having suffered suspension 
during a year. But the defeated side were not satisfied ; 
and the trial of Mr. Barnes resulted finally in the entire 
splitting of the Presbyterian denomination into two dis- 
tinct and hostile bodies, then and since known as the Old 
and New School churches. 

This controversy, in which Mr. Barnes was the central 
figure, extended his fame widely and familiarly throughout 
the country. He was justly regarded by all as the stand- 
ard-bearer of the New School, and by many as the martyr 
of a persecuting party. Others, who were not Presbyte- 
rian, either Old or New, admired him for the courage with 
which he asserted the principle of rational progress and 
Christian freedom in the study and interpretation of the 
Scriptures. Not a few hated him as the teacher of false, 
pernicious, and detestable heresies ; nor have their preju- 
dices yet passed entirely away. 

Unconcerned either with the praise or the censure of men, 
Mr. Barnes continued, after the formal settlement of this 
great dispute, to devote himself to the performanxje of his 
pastoral duties and to the completion of Exegetical Notes 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 345 

on the Scriptures. The church of which he was and still 
is pastor, is a very large one, and the congregation are 
numerous and intelligent. As a preacher, Mr. Barnes is 
peculiar in his style. He makes no pretentions to oratory 
or eloquence. He rarely or never gesticulates, and he 
usually stands holt upright, and perfectly still, in the de- 
livery of his discourses. This was more especially the 
case when he preached from his notes ; for since the failure 
of his eyesight, and his inability to make much use of his 
pen, his extemporaneous efforts are more genial, less formal, 
and, it may be added, more acceptable to the majority of 
his hearers. His sermons possess in an unusual degree 
the quality of thorough, exhaustive thinking. Many of 
them are doctrinal discussions, which evince a mind trained 
to logical reflection, and fully competent to follow out all 
the details and sequences of an investigation. When he 
preaches practical sermons, expressly as such, he exhibits 
deep feeling and pious earnestness. His volume of Prac- 
tical Sermons, already published, are characterized by 
great evangelical fervor. In the pulpit, Mr. Barnes is 
well adapted to edify, instruct, and benefit the hearer ; he 
never charms him by the attractions of eloquence, nor by 
the arts of the rhetorician ; but he often enlightens by 
more than ordinary freshness, depth, and thoroughness of 
discussion. 

Mr. Barnes is more remarkable as a writer of commen- 
taries than in any other intellectual respect. He is the 
most voluminous author in Philadelphia. He has written 
notes on all the books of the New Testament, and on Job, 
Daniel and Isaiah in the Old As a Biblical critic he 
has considerable merit; his expositions being generally 
sound and safe. In point of critical and philologi- 
cal learning, however, he will not compare with Moses 
Stuart, or Professor Robinson, in this country ; or with 
Tholuck, Kuinoel, or De Wette, in Gefmany. His ac- 
quaintance with the Oriental languages is evidently only 
such as it became necessary for him to acquire, in order 
to read and appreciate the works of the great critics who 



846 BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICES. 

have already commented on the Scriptures, and to make 
use of their labors in compiling his own writings. But 
for practical purposes, this acquaintance was sujficient, as 
is evinced by the popularity which his comments have ob- 
tained throughout the religious public, both in this country 
and in England. People talk everlastingly about " the 
learned and judicious Hooker." They might say with 
equal propriety and frequency, " the laborious and useful 
Barnes." 

Yet it should not be inferred, from the fact that Mr. 
Barnes has written so much, that he is not capable of 
compact and logical thinking. In his controversy with 
the deposed, dram-drinking Bishop Onderdonk, on Epis- 
copacy, he reasoned with great force, clearness, and con- 
clusiveness. In his Introduction to his edition of Butler's 
Analogy, he produced an essay not unworthy to stand by 
the side of that colossal monument of logic ; and it admi- 
rably supplies the deficiencies which till then marred its 
completeness. Had Mr. Barnes written only one-third of 
what he has accomplished, his fame as an author (but not 
perhaps his usefulness) would stand much higher than it 
does, because mankind are always disposed to infer that 
when a writer produces so much, a large proportion of it 
must be of inferior quality. In general, this dictum or 
judgment is true ; but Mr. Barnes is an exception, for the 
most part, to the rule. 

The personal incidents of the life of this distinguished 
clergyman are few. His life has been chiefly passed in 
his study. His devotion to his literary labors has been 
rarely equalled. For many years he commenced his 
studies at four o'clock in the morning, in his library in 
the church in which he preaches, and he generally con- 
tinued them till late at night. On one occasion, it is said 
that a new watchman, who met him long before the dawn 
of day, on his "v^y to his study, carrying a bundle of 
kindling wood in his hands, regarded him as a suspicious 
person, arrested him, and retained him until enlightened 
as to the true nature of the case and the real character of 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 347 

his victim. A real thief would most probably have not been 
arrested at all, or would have been compelled merely to 
divide the plunder ! The constant devotion of Mr. Barnes 
to study during so many years, resulted in the serious in- 
jury of his eye-sight. Some time since he was compelled 
to suspend his labors entirely. He embraced the oppor- 
tunity to visit Europe, and employ the most competent 
medical aid there accessible. It is not likely that he will 
ever be able to resume the same prodigious habits of ap- 
plication which he practiced during so many years ; yet he 
can console himself with the reflection that, though he can- 
not claim to stand beside Robert Hall or Edward Irving 
as a preacher, or beside Gesenius and the younger Rosen- 
miiller as a critic, he will always rank honorably and emi - 
nently as the Matthew Henry of his country. 

KEY. W. H. FURNESS. 

The Rev. Dr. Furness is the most distinguished repre- 
resentative in Philadelphia of that class of divines to whom 
the term ^' Liberal" is applied, both by themselves and by 
the general custom of the religious public. He preaches 
in the Unitarian Church, at the corner of Locust and Tenth 
Streets ; and has during many years been regarded as one 
of the most intellectual and cultivated of the Philadelphia 
clergy. Notwithstanding the large amount of prejudice 
which the " Orthodox" churches have always entertained, 
and do still entertain, against what they term heterodox 
denominations, all have concurred in rendering a just 
tribute of esteem and respect for this clergyman person- 
ally. 

Dr. Furness was born at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1802, 
and was educated at Cambridge University. Having ter- 
minated his course of studies, he visited Philadelphia in 
the summer of 1824, and preached a series of trial ser- 
mons to those few Unitarians who then constituted the 
society in that city. At the conclusion of the series, he 
vas invited to become the regular pastor of the church ; 



348 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 

he accepted the invitation, and was ordained in June, 1825, 
to the office which he still retains. Thus thirty-three 
years have elapsed since the connection of Dr. Furness 
with his present church began ; and it is probable that he 
is one of the oldest settled ministers in Philadelphia. 
This church is the most ancient professedly Unitarian so- 
ciety in the United States ; and as such it possesses more 
than ordinary historical interest. It was commenced sixty- 
two years ago, in 1796 ; and was composed at first of four- 
teen members, most of whom were natives of England, and 
men of wealth, who, finding themselves in the new world 
where all the existing denominations dijSered fundamen- 
tally in their views from themselves, resolved to organize 
a church, and conduct religious services in accordance 
with their own convictions. 

A short time previous to the adoption of this resolution. 
Dr. Joseph Priestley, the celebrated English philosopher 
and theologian, had removed to this country ; having been 
driven from his home at Birmingham, and his residence 
destroyed, by the insane violence of a popular tumult. 
Having located himself at Northumberland in this State, 
he occasionally visited Philadelphia. Great and enlight- 
ened as he was, he was still the object of universal preju- 
dice even here. His co-religionists in Philadelphia alone 
regarded him with the respectful consideration which he 
deserved ; and by his advice, and under his direction, the 
fourteen Unitarians already alluded to combined together 
in the organization of a church. It is said that Dr. 
Priestley's autograph appears among the signatures of the 
first members of the society, and he no doubt assisted in 
the public services of the congregation whenever he visited 
Philadelphia. These exercises were carried on during 
some years by the members of the society, it being impos- 
sible for them at that time to procure the services of a 
Unitarian minister. So great was the prejudice then 
prevalent in the community against those who believed in 
the unity of the Supreme Being, that it was with great 
difficulty that the infant church could even procure a place 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 349 

for public worship. At length, in 1813, they purchased 
the lot upon which the present edifice stands, and erected 
an octagonal building upon it, capable of accommodating 
Beveral hundred people. In 1822 the congregation suc- 
ceeded in obtaining the occasional ministrations of students 
of divinity from the theological department of the Univer- 
sity of Cambridge. This arrangement continued until the 
arrival, the preaching, and the permanent settlement of 
Br. Furness, at the period already referred to. From 
that date until the present, during a long lapse of tran- 
quil years, he has devoted himself to the quiet, regu- 
lar and unobtrusive performance of his pastoral and pulpit 
duties. 

For twenty years after the formation of the Unitarian 
Church in Philadelphia, there was no similar organization 
throughout the United States. Even at Boston, which 
has since become, and now is, the head-quarters of Liberal 
Christianity in the United States, there was no open avowal 
of Unitarianism, and no professedly Unitarian Church 
until 1810. At this period the church known as King's 
Chapel, in Boston, was ministered to by two clergymen, 
Dr. Freeman and Mr. Carey, men of learning and piety, 
who had become convinced of the absolute unity of the 
object of divine worship, had boldly taught that doctrine 
from the pulpit, and had brought over the majority of 
their members to a harmony of opinion with themselves. 
Gradually the number of converts increased ; this new or 
old doctrine, this heretical or divinely taught opinion, just 
as you choose to consider it, spread more and more through 
the churches of Boston, through Massachusetts, through 
New England, and through other States of the Union, un- 
til it now comprises among its members a large portion of 
the most intelligent and cultivated part of the community ; 
Bending forth from year to year, from Cambridge, the 
chief University in the land, men of science, men of elo- 
quence, men of piety, to promulgate the doctrines which 
they have there imbibed and adopted. 

At the period of the arrival of Dr. Furness in Philadel- 



850 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 

pMa, his position, as one of the few Unitarian pastors in 
this country, was a very difficult one. The religious pub- 
lic even at that time, regarded a Unitarian with about 
that same sort of indefinable horror and nameless dread 
with which the most extreme and radical infidels are now 
esteemed by the majority of them. Shortly before that 
period a controversy had taken place in Boston in refer- 
ence to this new doctrine, and its apprehended ravages 
in that neighborhood, in which Dr. Channing had great- 
ly distinguished himself ; and although he defended the 
Unitarian views with superior learning, with rare amia- 
bility, and with unrivaled eloquence, the Orthodox com- 
munity far and near united in condemning, excommu- 
nicating, and repudiating the persons and the opinions of 
those who chose to interpret strictly that saying of Scrip- 
ture : " Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." 
Mr. Furness incurred his full share of this prejudice. He 
was then but in his twenty-second year, and his position 
required great circumspection and prudence. He proved 
himself fully equal to the task which he had assumed. 
Avoiding the noisy clamors of controversy and all unchari- 
table assaults upon the opinions and prejudices of others, 
-he devoted himself to his duties, and preached what he be- 
lieved to be the truth, whether men would hear or forbear. 
This course he has pursued during many years with signal 
success. His congregation has flourished ; his views have 
gradually become more and more disseminated ; and while 
other churches have been torn and distracted by innumer- 
able feuds and implacable divisions, his society has ever 
been strangers to the distractions of party and the miseries 
and animosities of schism. 

As a preacher, the style of Dr. Furness is peculiar. At 
one period he was one of the most popular clergymen in 
this city. We may say that he occupied this position in 
spite of himself ; for no man would seem to take less pains 
to secure the notoriety which "fame's obstreperous trump" 
bestows, than he. His manner of preaching is quiet, re- 
flective, subdued, but none the less on that account im- 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 851 

pressive. He rarely gesticulates ; yet Ms manner seems 
instinct with earnest feeling, which, by some myste- 
rious process, he communicates 4;o the hearer. His 
most striking quality as a preacher is his intellectuality. 
His sermons are' calm embodiments of pure thought. 
Frequently, from first to last, they are continued utterances 
of unbroken, instructive, attractive ratiocinations on re- 
ligious themes. One of the most remarkable peculiarities 
of his ministrations, is his intense and never ceasing oppo- 
sition to American Slavery ; and he embraces every oppor- 
tunity afforded, even by the ordinary services of the pulpit, 
to express his abhorrence of this prominent and anomalous 
element in American society and government. 

The denomination to which Dr. Furness belongs entertain 
three cardinal principles as the foundation of their faith. 
The first is, that the Scriptures are the proper source of reli- 
gious truth and knowledge. The second is, the full and 
unrestricted right of private judgment, and the perfect 
freedom of the human mind, in the interpretation of the 
contents of the Scriptures. The third is, the undeniable 
truthfulness of the doctrine of the Divine Unity. On 
minor points American Unitarians not only differ, but they 
expect to differ, as a necessary and natural result of the 
full operation of the second of the preceding canons of 
belief. This right of private judgment in religious matters, 
was the great principium cognoscendi of the Protestant 
Reformation in the sixteenth century ; yet, as Unitarians 
say, the reformers and their followers do not carry it out 
to its legitimate results, but annul it by the fabrication 
of creeds and confessions, and other theological strait- 
jackets, which as effectually interfere with the exercise of 
private judgment, and with the spirit of progress and de- 
velopment, as did the decrees and persecutions of the 
Roman Catholic Church, during the Dark Ages. Doubt- 
less, arguments of great weight may be urged on both sides 
of this question ; and it is undeniable, that, if the unre- 
stricted freedom of private judgment favors the discovery 
and development of truth, it has on the other hand a ten- 



662 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 

dency to destroy that unity and harmony of sentiment 
which some Christians regard as essential elements or 
characteristics of the true Church. 

EEY. JOHN WESLEY. 

John Wesley, the founder of the sect of the Methodists, 
was born June 17, 1703, at Epworth. He was educated 
at the Charterhouse, and Christchurch, Oxford, and was 
ordained in 1725. Naturally of a devout disposition, he 
was rendered still more so by the perusal of devotional 
treatises ; and, in conjunction with his brother Charles and 
some friends, he formed a religious society, to the members of 
which his gay fellow collegians applied the name of Method- 
ists. In 1735, with Charles Wesley and other missionaries, 
he visited Georgia to convert the Indians ; but after a resi- 
dence of less than two years in the colony, during which 
he became extremely unpopular, he returned to England. 
In 1738 he began those public labors which ultimately pro- 
duced such prodigious effects, and in 1739 the first meeting- 
house was built at Bristol. For some time he acted in 
conjunction with Whitefield, but the radical difference in 
their opinions at length produced a separation. Over the 
sect which he had founded, Wesley obtained an unbounded 
influence ; and it must be owned that he deserved it by 
his unwearied zeal and his astonishing exertions. Two 
sermons he usually preached every day, and often four or 
five. In the course of his peregrinations he is said to 
have preached more than forty thousand discourses, and to 
have travelled three hundred thousand miles, or nearly 
fifteen times the circumference of the globe. On the 17th 
of February 1791, he took cold, after preaching at Lam- 
beth. For some days he struggled against an increasing 
fever, and continued to preach until the Wednesday follow- 
ing when he delivered his last sermon. From that time he 
became daily weaker, and died on the second of March, 
1791, being in the eighty-eighth year of his age, and the 
sixty fifth of his memorable ministry. 



